Daily Times

Thousands of tons of hazardous and toxic city waste is being dumped illegally by Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) at its own landfill site in Lahore.

Despite spending billions of rupees annually, dumping of huge volume of waste, including commercial, industrial and domestic is being continued in the premises of LWMC’s own Scientific Landfill Site-established in the outskirt area of city, Lakhodair.

The said Scientific Landfill Site was established at an area of 52 hectares, in April 2016 with aim to dispose city’s waste in scientific manners to lessen the environmental hazards. At the time of its establishment, the site was declared as first ever scientific landfill site of the country while authorities claimed that it would be helpful to cater the menace of waste.

This is pertinent to mention here that prior to the establishment of scientific land site, city’s waste had been disposing openly at Mehmood Booti’s dumping site but authorities had to stop dumping waste there after grave concerns of environmentalists.

However, it is observed that LWMC has been badly failed in dumping city’s waste in a scientific manner as it is being dumped openly, which is posing serious threat to city’s ecosystem. This can be witnessed that owing to open dumping, a mound of waste also has been created in the premises of the landfill site.

Initially scientific landfill site started its function with two cells; LOT-I and LOT-II. Company officials announced that at two cells 2,000 to 2,500 tons waste would be dumped scientifically and environmental friendly way while four more cells; LOT-III, LOT-IV, LOT-V and LOT-VI would be established soon in near future. They further claimed that the waste would be managed on daily basis in an environment-friendly and scientific manner to minimise the environmental hazards of toxic effects of waste and to have no repercussions over the purity of underground water or atmosphere.

According to officials, LWMC and its contractors collect over 6,500 tons of waste daily from city. Among the this waste, 1,000 tons are being provided to DG Khan Cement while 500 tons are being used by LWMC’s compost plant.

Insiders in LWMC, however claimed that since day one LWMC could not dump the waste scientifically up-to the volume of 1,500 tons per day. They said owing to delay in establishment of the remaining scientific cells, currently only 1,000 of tons is being disposed in scientific manners. “The remaining of over 4,000 tons of waste is being dumped openly in violation of company’s own laws,” they maintained and added that due to illegal dumping, not just city’s environment is being polluted badly but also the toxic leachate of waste is badly effecting the ground water. “According to the waste management rules, the waste must be segregated before dumping but all the waste was being dumped without segregation.”

Published in Daily Times, March 11^th 2019.