KARACHI, Dec 14: Irritated by the dumping and open burning of solid waste in the city, the Sindh environment department has given another 30 days to the civic agencies and municipal institutions to ensure proper disposal of the daily generated garbage, or face legal actions.

The environment department held a meeting with the municipal commissioners and senior officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Karachi Port Trust, Karachi Fish Harbour and cantonment boards to discuss garbage disposal and its impact on human life and aesthetics in the city on Wednesday. Sindh environment minister Sheikh Muhammad Afzal presided over the meeting.

The meeting was told that an estimated 120,00 tonnes of solid waste was generated daily in the city, but hardly 50 per cent of that was lifted and transferred to the designated dumping sites, which resulted in serious environmental and public health concerns.

The solid waste operations in the case of Karachi, which housed over 18 million people and thousands of industries and markets, had never been satisfactory, while illicit burning and dumping of waste continued to increase, said representatives of various institutions at the meeting.

The meeting was attended by environment department secretary Mir Hussain Ali, director-general of the Sindh Environment Protection Agency Nasim Nawaz, senior officers Vaqar H. Phulpoto, Shaukat Zaman, Shaiq-ur-Rehman, Fayaz Rasool, Imam Bux Baloch, Noor Ahmad Rind, Kamal Mustafa and others.

Briefing newsmen about the meeting, the environment minister said environmental issues should be taken seriously and a mechanism be worked out for a centralised setup to address garbage disposal inadequacies.

The situation is not appreciable as garbage dumping at various sites, including beds of the Lyari and Malir rivers, or the unsafe open burning of waste was growing, he said.

He further said that unchecked dumping and burning of solid waste in the riverbeds was alarming, particularly for the residents of Manzoor Colony, Kashmir Colony, Defence Housing Authority, Qayyumabad, Mahmoodabad, settlements along the Lyari river and parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Federal B Area.

Now the civic agencies have been asked to take concrete measures and also ensure legal actions against the violators, including contractors who failed to dispose of garbage appropriately in line with the environmental laws of the country. The minister said actions would be taken against those who violated the environmental laws.

He said the authorities concerned had been told to eliminate garbage dumping and burning and report to the environment department in 30 days.

Replying to a question, Mr Afzal said a lack of resources and proper planning was the main reason behind the garbage menace in the city. However, the institutions should mobilise funds and muster support of all relevant quarters for the protection of human lives and the overall environment of the city.