Daily Times

As we progressed as a country since our independence we tried to switch between agriculture-based economy and industrial. Our curriculum books and general public reading materials along with even strategic papers are full of praise for the great irrigation system we have. However, we forget that all greatness in that system is due to their visionary planners and implementers ie the British and we have merely tried to maintain it and that also badly. With a nostalgia for agricultural rural areas we still dream of seeing the green fields and wells with pure water along the way when we travel in between the urban settlements.

In reality when we drive on any main highway, be it inter-cities or even inter-villages, the scene is completely different. Instead of lush green fields we see the heaps and mountains of solid waste. This waste generated from villages within or from the major cities in the surroundings has been dumped in these virgin lands since decades. In most of cases the high price of urban development is being paid by rural land. In natural retaliation to dumping of waste in to our agricultural lands and water bodies, all the hazardous by-products like leachate or methane are pumped in to our food chain or natural atmosphere. While we the urbanists enjoy commodities and throw our left over i.e. waste, in to rural lands the result is our huge spending on health and wellness.

Our governments over the decades had environmental protection as the least priority. The solid waste out of city and waste water out of sight were thought enough because only flyovers, roads and parks along with mega shopping centres popped in to eyes of people resulting in votes. Anyone can see how the Ravi becomes dark black at the entrance of Lahore, north-west of Juggian Jodha. In fact, with Google Earth one can observe a severed head of a deer bleeding at that location if you have some imaginative instincts. Do we still think that we’ll be able to chat over a cup of tea in our drawing rooms when we’ll be surrounded by these black streams? Our domestic and industrial waste water flows in to natural bodies and our environment department and other institutes seem to take no genuine steps to protect the water in veins of mother earth which is being replaced with toxic substances.

Solid waste is another low-priority area for governments. In the past when population was sparsely located and we used to have vacant lands in between the settlements, the collected waste was dumped with least noticing. However now when one finds a settlement connected to another dwelling while travelling on GT road, there is no hidden room left for the solid waste. One can observe the waste dumped along the roads, on the entrances of our towns and villages and worst of all in our water bodies. Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot are three major cities along with many which are dumping or used to dump thousands of tons of waste each day in to water bodies or dried water bodies. Dried water bodies in whole civilised world are still considered fragile ecosystem though we hurry to reclaim them for use in one way or another.

Punjab alone produces forty thousand tons of solid waste each day and half of it originates from rural areas. Forty thousand tons implies load for four thousand dumper trucks each with ten tons capacity heading to a dumping site. There is no formal system to collect waste from rural areas and this is openly accepted practice by the local authorities

Punjab alone produces forty thousand tons of solid waste each day and half of it originates from rural areas. Forty thousand tons implies load for four thousand dumper trucks each with ten tons capacity heading to a dumping site. There is no formal system to collect waste from rural areas and this is openly accepted practice by the local authorities. They are mainly concerned for the urban settlements where high ups move and vote count is high and concentrated. The policy of collecting waste and just dumping around the cities would simply make those cities islands surrounded by waste oceans. Removing waste from cities and leaving the remaining half un-served would never help us to achieve clean country.

The government at its highest level should first of all come up with waste management policy. At least a 35 years waste management strategy should be devised based on this policy leading to practical plans for waste management. These plans should discourage creation of waste dumps around all settlements. They should focus more on regional landfills which are much safer ways to dump waste. Unfortunately, during last few years’ decision makers both at political seats and bureaucracy have started calling the wild dumps of waste as landfills. This is extremely erroneous and dangerous approach. Landfill is a properly designed and operated facility which decreases threats to ground water and air pollution. Landfills are most economical way to dispose waste and landfill gas recovery is an option available only if we have proper landfill and not wild dumps. While the high ups advocate waste to energy plants after their foreign visits or flashy presentations, they should not forget that countries using this option have travelled the 35 years journey that we are still to start.

In 1855 a great Red Indian Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe wrote a lengthy and very important letter to the President Franklin Pierce of America. In his letter he compared behaviour of white men with that of his fellows and their respect for Mother Nature. In that letter he also wrote, “Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste”. He further continued, your nature of progress would be “The end of living and the beginning of survival”. Unfortunately, this prediction made almost 160 years ago is about to be true but not for white man but for us. We as a society have neglected environment and right of Mother Nature since decades and now we are left alone with least help of it to tackle the mess we have created. Let us wish that a day would come when environment would become our priority, we start taking long-term and financially painful decisions so that we and our future generations can live. Otherwise we’ll be engaged in more severe battle for survival, wasting much more financial resources just to tackle the associated problems. In order to live we need to escape from suffocating by taking care of waste we produce and air we breathe. Putting a mask on face is just a technique to survive, may be few more years though in apathy, it is not a manner to live.

The writer is working as a senior specialist at the Urban Unit Lahore. He has studied and worked in fields of Engineering, Public Health, Ecology, Disaster Management, Change Management and Energy Management. He is especially interested in circular economy and climate change. Email: azharuup@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, November 1^st 2018.