Daily Times

KARACHI: The Karachi Port Trust has been dumping its port waste and garbage into the Arabian Sea, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board has claimed on Saturday.

SSWMB says KPT is responsible for provision of civic services including solid waste management in its vast administrative jurisdiction.

The computerized record of SSWMB weighbridge shows that no garbage from the jurisdiction of KPT is being brought to the landfill site for disposal, because KPT does not have any facility to dump garbage. In fact KPT should it self bring garbage to the landfill sites of SSWMB for final disposal.

This situation raises serious concern as it is evidence that garbage, instead of being transported to landfill sites for disposal, is being unauthentically dumped and is either being used for illegal land filling by land grabbers or thrown into the water bodies like nallahs, rivers or sea side.

Dr Attar Das Sajnani Managing Director SSWMB in a letter SSWMB/Misc/547/2017 on May 29. 2017 to chairman KPT Karachi has raisin an objection on this issue and on the un-authorised dumping of municipal solid waste in seawater or otherwise.

Meanwhile Karachi Cantonment Board, Faisal Cantonment Board, Clifton Cantonment Board, Malir Cantonment Board, SITE industries, Civil Aviation Authority, Port Qasim, Bahria Town and Pakistan Steel Mills have also been informed through SSWMB letters that they should follow the dumping of garbage in accordance with SSWMB law.

These government and private entities are requested to look into the matter personally and instruct their respective solid waste management staff including the contractor and sanitary workers and others to stop the practice of dumping solid waste at areas like nallahs, rivers, sea side, open plots or any other place except in designated landfill sites of SSWMB at Gond Pass or Jam Chakro.

SSWMB asked these entities to strictly follow the dumping rules in order to save city from dangerous toxic material and its aftermath affects.

The current lifting of garbage from district south is 1,385 tonnes a day, from west 1.210 tonnes, from central 819 tonnes and from east 572 tonnes.

Faisal Cantonment Board has so far disposed off 120 tonnes, Clifton Board 47 tonnes and SITE has so far disposed off 18 tonnes of garbage a day.

However district council Karachi, Malir and Korangi municipal committees are not dumping their respective garbage in landfill sites.

Approximately 12,000 tonnes a day solid waste is being generated in Karachi out of which only 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of garbage is reaching at both landfill sites with efforts of the SSWMB.

The quantity of garbage reaching the landfill sites has increased to the range of 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes per day, but this is not enough. Sustained campaign is required to ensure that all garbage generated in the city under control of any civic agency is lifted and transported to the landfill sites of SSWMB.