As the municipal waste disposal system came to a virtual halt in several areas of the city during the ongoing lockdown, environmental experts voiced concern, calling it a ‘recipe for disaster’ amid the coronavirus health crisis.
“We are simply inviting a disaster if we stop municipal waste disposal in Karachi during an epidemic, as resultantly, issues related to public health will worsen,” pointed out National Forum for Environment and Health president Naeem Qureshi in a statement on Monday.
He stressed that waste disposal should not be stopped in a city like Karachi, which generates 12,000 tonnes of garbage in a single day. Instead, he maintained, it should be quickened, with minimum human resources and maximum mechanical means being used, in order to protect the health of municipal workers.
“Most importantly, the municipal workers should be provided with safety gear to protect them against the viral disease [coronavirus],” he said.
Qureshi also pointed out that the Sindh local government department, municipal agencies, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation were not on the list of the government institutions that had been shut down during the current crisis.
“The very reason these institutions are not on the government’s shutdown list is that they have to provide seamless municipal services in the province, as the most important service in this regard relates to the waste disposal work,” he asserted.
He demanded that garbage disposal should be resumed in the city in order to safeguard the public’s health. To this end, he appealed to the Sindh Chief Minister, Local Government Minister and Sindh Chief Secretary to take notice of the situation and order the resumption of waste disposal in the metropolis as soon as possible.
“Doing so is also in the best interest of the proactive campaign of the Sindh government to tackle the COVID-19 health emergency in the province,” he added.
Halting waste disposal efforts is a recipe for disaster: NFEH
