KARACHI, Dec 12: An independent department — Municipal Services Group of Offices — to handle solid waste, fumigation, fire brigade and others tasks has been established in the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) by the Sindh government.

A summary to set up the Municipal Services Group of Offices was sent to Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who approved.

The Municipal Services Group of Offices will be responsible for solid waste management, treatment and disposal including landfill sites and recycling plants; sanitation, conservancy, removal and disposal of silage refuse, garbage, drainage, public toilets; fumigation and vector control; industrial and hospital hazardous and toxic waste treatment and disposal; environment control including control of air, water, and soil pollution in accordance with federal and provincial laws and standards and any other task in respect of municipal services.

The decision to establish the office was taken under Section 35 of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance-2001 (SLGO), which permits creation of the group of offices in a city district government depending upon economies of scale and the nature of the infrastructure.

The new department would be headed by a BPS-20 officer.

The Sindh government has appointed Mr Masood Alam as Executive District Officer (EDO) of the new department.

City Nazim Mustafa Kamal told Dawn that before creating the new department, the city government had to mobilise or contact 10 departments for one task.

He said, “There was no permanent set-up for mobilising fire tenders, solid waste management, fumigation and the city government was taking measures on ad-hoc basis.

“With the establishment of this new department, there would be effective coordination in an emergency situation and also on a day-to-day basis, which will improve performance,” he added.

The CDGK officials said creation of the new group was necessary keeping in view the growing population of the metropolis and its ever expanding boundaries.

The Municipal Services Group of offices is already functioning in the city governments of Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi since November.