Sir: Overflowing garbage and poor sanitation has now become a major issue Punjab’s provincial capital, Lahore. The population seems to have turned the cities roads into their personal garbage dumps. And while the Lahore’s streets and roads are cleaned regularly, it’s garbage containers are left neglected. The foul smell of garbage has permeated many parts of the city as the city’s waste management authorities have failed to keep the city clean. Previously the Punjab government had hired a foreign company to keep the city clean, and while this arrangement delivered initially it’s performance has become quite lax as of late. The responsibility of the citizens themselves cannot be disregarded as their careless littering is the primary cause of Lahore’s garbage problem. These citizens must be educated and gain some semblance of civic sense. Littering should be penalized through fines to discourage people from throwing their trash wherever they please. I hope Lahore’s waste management authorities pay attention to this problem and work on improving the state of cleanliness in Lahore. JAVAID BASHIR Turbat Published in Daily Times, October 15th 2017.