Islamabad - Garbage trucks carrying solid waste plying on the roads of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, during rush hours emitting extremely strong odour, is a cause of concern for the public, particularly motorists.
These garbage trucks not only pollute environment but also make further dirty to the already dusty roads by leaving trail of waste material behind due to overload. It is a common sight that in a bid to lessen their workload, sanitary workers mostly put the waste dumped in trolley on fire causing emitting of hazardous smoke putting the health of area residents at risk.
It is also witnessed that garbage bins are mostly placed on main roads and streets of congested Mohallahs and the trucks being loaded in the middle of day cause traffic jams and congestion for the shopkeepers, shoppers and passersby.
Muhmmad Usman Zia, a resident of Shamsabad locality of Rawalpindi, said garbage trucks roaming on the city roads early in the morning are an eye-soaring sight for the people, who wanted to travel to their workplaces with a fresh mind.
It particularly became difficult for motorcyclists driving behind these odour emitting trucks, which also dropped trail of garbage on the roads, he said. He said commuters in public transport and motorists felt difficulty in breathing because of obnoxious smell due to a loaded garbage truck moving at a snail’s pace in heavy traffic or stationed at traffic signals.
Tahir Dar, a resident of Sector I-12, said landfill site in the vicinity of the sector was a health hazard not only for the residents of Capital area but also for the people residing across the IJ Principal Road in Rawalpindi due to stinking smell and pollution. He said his home was situated close to the site and his children occasionally suffered from diseases like asthma, allergy etc.
Ahmad Faiz, who resides in Media Town and travels to his office in Blue Area through Islamabad Expressway, said the Capital Development Authority boasted of Capital terming it the beautiful, but heaps of garbage all along the city’s main artery at short distances spoke volumes about its apathy. He said garbage loaded trucks were often seen running on the Expressway, which sometimes disposed of the load around Kak Bridge or in the Korang River instead shifting the same to the landfill site.
Ahmed Faiz said he had always to suffer a mental agony while driving behind an overloaded garbage truck.
A student, Nisam Ejaz, alleged that the civic authorities of the twin cities did not bother about the people, who had to suffer because of the garbage trucks plying on the roads in daylight. Sometimes the smell emitted from the garbage caused the commuters to vomit, she added.
Doctor Saif, a pulmonologist at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), told APP that air pollution was the main cause of respiratory diseases like asthma, allergy and others. Number of people suffering from these diseases was on the rise.
He said the people with weak immunse system were more vulnerable to the respiratory diseases. He said, “Care is better than cure and by adopting preventive measures like wearing face masks and washing nose properly could avoid such problems.”
An official of Environmental Wing of the CDA, on condition of anonymity told APP that according to standard operating procedures (SOPS), the garbage was to be collected and disposed of during night time, but the same were not being followed. He lamented that this was an administrative lacunae that the garbage was collected during the day.
The authority had received a number of complains and the department concerned was devising a mechanism to collect the garbage at night, he added.