Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Garbage heaps at various areas of Rawalpindi irked the residents as it was causing several diseases and was the major cause of polluted environment. Many areas have serious environmental impacts like infectious diseases, land and air pollution due to blockage of drains and water pollution in natural streams. Citizens complained that failure of the sanitation authority could be witnessed in areas of Sir Syed Chowk, Arya Mohallah and Khayaban-e-Sir Syed due to improper management of garbage dumping. They said that the situation is becoming very complex in the city due to industrialization and urbanization. “Open dumping, open burning and un-engineered sanitary land filling of solid waste were the wrong disposal practices adopted by the local authorities”, said a resident of Sir Syed Chowk, Abbas Ali Chohan. He added these methods of solid waste disposal were causing environmental degradation in the city. Uncollected wastes often end up in drains, causing blockages which result in flooding and unsanitary conditions in the city, Chohan said. Another resident of Khayab-e-Sir Syed, Salim Khan said, “Flies breed in some constituents of solid wastes, and being very effective factors to spread diseases like malaria and dengue”.