* Jamshed Town, CDGK and others using massive area as landfill site
By Jamil Khan | KARACHI
THE city government’s Solid Waste Department and various town administrations are yet to comply with the directives of City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, who has strictly forbidden the dumping and burning of garbage within the limits of the Malir River near Korangi Expressway, Daily Times has learnt.
The practice of unloading household and industrial waste within the limits of the Malir River was initiated by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and Jamshed Town officials a long time ago, resulting in the development of the area into another unofficial landfill site.
However, this fast becoming a source of inconvenience for the residents of surrounding areas, as well as for the thousands of motorists using the road between Landhi-Korangi Industrial Area. After receiving numerous complaints, Kamal had issued directives to stop this practice but it seems that no one is ready to follow them. It is also mentioned that a large portion of the Malir River, just behind the Dadabhoy Housing Society, from the Mehmoodabad signal to the Korangi Industrial Area, has become a massive landfill site, where dozens of fully loaded dumper trucks unload their waste daily. Before they leave the site, they also set fire to the garbage to reduce its volume.
The area residents and the commuters, who use the road near the Malir Riverbed as a shortcut, are annoyed by the thick smog, the density of which makes it difficult to see the road ahead. “The fire is not such a big problem but the stink of the half burnt garbage is too much to bear even for the people passing by,” said a motorcyclist, Aziz. A shopkeeper selling automobile parts near the Mehmoodabad signal told Daily Times that Jamshed Town and city government vehicles dump large amounts of garbage in the middle of city without thinking about the problems that people might face as a result.
An official of the CDGK Solid Waste Department told Daily Times that last week, on the directives of city nazim, a couple of police mobile vans had visited the area to prevent the officials from dumping garbage in the limits but to no avail.
“The philosophy behind using this land as a garbage dumping site, rather than the official landfill site located in Jam Chakro, Gadap Town, which is about 30 kilometers outside the center of the city, is to save fuel and time,” he said.
It is also mentioned that the city government, two years ago, had announced that the River Valley Park, a recreational project, will be established on the 4,432.67 acres from the Malir River and Hino Chowrangi to the Quaidabad Bridge.
The project had to be started earlier this year with the financial assistance of the federal government and the Asian Development Bank but no decision has been taken in this regard yet.
According to the initial design of the River Valley Park, the project consists of 50-feet wide roads on both sides of the riverbed, car-parking areas on 24 points, 35 playing fields, including 15 cricket grounds, 10 hockey and 10 football grounds. The city government had also wished to set up various healthy activities, such as motorcycle racing tracks, car racing tracks, remote control helicopter and airplane runways as additional facilities for the visitors, including the residents of the nine towns lying adjacent to the area.
However, according to CDGK sources, the ongoing financial crisis faced by the government is the cause of delay in the establishment of the project.
– Published in Daily Times | Dec 18, 2008
Jamil Khan -- The Journalist 