KARACHI: Sindh Minister of Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah announced that road and civic infrastructure of Karachi would be rebuilt and overhauled immediately after end of current monsoon season. Addressing concluding session of National Waste Management Conference organised by National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) here he reiterated Sindh government’s resolve to make Karachi clean, green and a fully developed city.

He said that proper waste collection system would be made fully operational in all districts of Karachi in next few weeks and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board would made proper arrangements for daily collection and disposal of garbage from  metropolis. He said that in next step SSWMB would unfold its waste disposal system in other major cities of Sindh. Managing-Director SSWMB Zubair Ahmed Channa informed that board was transporting up to 9,000 tonnes of waste generated in Karachi daily to landfill sites while just a year ago only 3,000 tonnes of garbage was reaching at those sites for safe disposal.

He said that owing to improper handling and disposal of trash in Karachi it was utterly difficult to consume municipal waste for useful purposes like waste-to-energy and recycling projects. Dean of Architecture and Management Sciences of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Prof Dr Noman Ahmed emphasised that hospital waste should be properly segregated before its disposal on a scientific basis.

He said that municipal workers and scavengers in city were prone to deadly infectious diseases as they handled hospital waste daily without any safety precautions much like casual way municipal garbage is handled in Karachi. He said government should provide maximum resources and support for developing an efficient system of hospital waste disposal as unsafe practices in this regard had gravely compromised public health during coronavirus.

Chief Executive Officer TransKarachi, Wasif Ijlal said Red Line BRTS project being built in Karachi from Malir Halt to Numaish would generate minimal carbon emissions as it would operate on bio gas to be generated by consuming dung available in Karachi’s Cattle Colony. He said Red Line BRTS would become operational in next three years as it would resolve issue of safe disposal of dung produced in Cattle Colony that is otherwise unsafely disposed of into sea. President NFEH Naeem Qureshi said that his non-governmental organisation had hosted conference to find a lasting solution to municipal and hazardous waste generated in Karachi for protecting health of its citizens.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 18 2022

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