CDA dumping, burning solid waste in open air
CDA dumping, burning solid waste in open air
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) continues to dump and burn solid waste in the open in H-series sectors, ignoring repeated warnings by conservationists against the exercise’s adverse impact on the environment of nearby residential areas.“Open dumping (of solid waste) plays havoc with air quality, underground water, soil quality along with flora and fauna,” Dr Amir, a local environmentalist, told Daily Times on Friday. He said that animals and rodents flourished on waste lying unattended in an area, and might cause spread of diseases.“Rats spawn when garbage is deposited in open places; they reproduce at a great speed and can spread dreadful diseases and plague is one of them,” Amir said.He urged the CDA and environment protection agencies to use properly designed, modern landfills to dispose of waste to prevent environmental hazards. He said that landfills stabilised and hygienised solid waste through proper storage and use of natural metabolic function.Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) and the CDA say that the town used to generate 0.142 million tonnes annually in 2004 but the numbers have now increased to 0.22 million tonnes per year. They say the waste generation is registering an annual increase of six percent due to the town’s fast growing population, which increased by 230 percent in the last 25 years.It’s learnt that the CDA collects solid waste from across the city and dumps it in H-10 and H-12 before burning it in the open.The CDA had proposed a landfill in Kuri on the outskirts of the capital and got its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study done by Quaid-i-Azam University’s Earth Department. The study findings were later submitted to the Pak-EPA in 2006 but the agency has been sleeping over them since and appears in no mood to make them public in future. Instead of heeding repeated pleas by environmentalists/stakeholders for release of the study results, the Pak-EPA held two hearings to solicit opinion of stakeholders, especially Kuri residents, on the proposed project.The first meeting, which occurred in August 2006, declared Kuri unsuitable for a landfill and directed the CDA to look for another site for the purpose. The second meeting was held on May 24, 2008 during which stakeholders expressed serious concerns over the project’s suitability.It the past, the Pak-EPA had also announced to form a committee to attend to such concerns but the announcement has yet to be translated into a reality.Some meteorologists firmly believe that construction of landfill in Kuri will pollute underground water and thus, cause waterborne diseases. They say that instead of building landfill, the CDA should benefit from modern techniques to convert waste into energy.They also insist that since the site lies on the fault line, an earthquake measuring up to 6.5 on Richter scale could allow seepage of sewage into underground water channels.Daily Times has learnt on good authority that the Pak-EPA had recently given the ‘unofficial’ green-light to the Kuri landfill and the CDA was likely to begin work on it in a couple of weeks. An official said that the development was an outcome of the pressure-tactics by the company, which was awarded the project’s contract by the CDA.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\06\01\story_1-6-2008_pg11_1
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) continues to dump and burn solid waste in the open in H-series sectors, ignoring repeated warnings by conservationists against the exercise’s adverse impact on the environment of nearby residential areas.“Open dumping (of solid waste) plays havoc with air quality, underground water, soil quality along with flora and fauna,” Dr Amir, a local environmentalist, told Daily Times on Friday. He said that animals and rodents flourished on waste lying unattended in an area, and might cause spread of diseases.“Rats spawn when garbage is deposited in open places; they reproduce at a great speed and can spread dreadful diseases and plague is one of them,” Amir said.He urged the CDA and environment protection agencies to use properly designed, modern landfills to dispose of waste to prevent environmental hazards. He said that landfills stabilised and hygienised solid waste through proper storage and use of natural metabolic function.Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) and the CDA say that the town used to generate 0.142 million tonnes annually in 2004 but the numbers have now increased to 0.22 million tonnes per year. They say the waste generation is registering an annual increase of six percent due to the town’s fast growing population, which increased by 230 percent in the last 25 years.It’s learnt that the CDA collects solid waste from across the city and dumps it in H-10 and H-12 before burning it in the open.The CDA had proposed a landfill in Kuri on the outskirts of the capital and got its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study done by Quaid-i-Azam University’s Earth Department. The study findings were later submitted to the Pak-EPA in 2006 but the agency has been sleeping over them since and appears in no mood to make them public in future. Instead of heeding repeated pleas by environmentalists/stakeholders for release of the study results, the Pak-EPA held two hearings to solicit opinion of stakeholders, especially Kuri residents, on the proposed project.The first meeting, which occurred in August 2006, declared Kuri unsuitable for a landfill and directed the CDA to look for another site for the purpose. The second meeting was held on May 24, 2008 during which stakeholders expressed serious concerns over the project’s suitability.It the past, the Pak-EPA had also announced to form a committee to attend to such concerns but the announcement has yet to be translated into a reality.Some meteorologists firmly believe that construction of landfill in Kuri will pollute underground water and thus, cause waterborne diseases. They say that instead of building landfill, the CDA should benefit from modern techniques to convert waste into energy.They also insist that since the site lies on the fault line, an earthquake measuring up to 6.5 on Richter scale could allow seepage of sewage into underground water channels.Daily Times has learnt on good authority that the Pak-EPA had recently given the ‘unofficial’ green-light to the Kuri landfill and the CDA was likely to begin work on it in a couple of weeks. An official said that the development was an outcome of the pressure-tactics by the company, which was awarded the project’s contract by the CDA.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\06\01\story_1-6-2008_pg11_1
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