Sindh Local Government Minister, SaeedGhani, has directed the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) to revise its waste disposal plan for EidulAzha and submit the updated strategy within 24 hours. The directive was issued during a top-level meeting on Tuesday, chaired by Ghani, to review preparations for the upcoming monsoon rains and ensure cleanliness during EidulAzha. “The SSWMB must reassess and enhance their arrangements for lifting and disposing of waste from sacrificial animals in Karachi and other areas of Sindh,” Ghani stated.
“A comprehensive revised plan must be submitted within the next 24 hours.” Ghani emphasized the importance of collaboration, urging relevant commissioners, deputy commissioners, and district administration officials to coordinate with elected representatives. This joint effort aims to ensure cleanliness in regions where the SSWMB has not yet initiated its waste disposal services. The meeting underscored the urgency of maintaining sanitary conditions during the festival and preparing for the monsoon season, highlighting the provincial government’s commitment to public health and environmental hygiene.
Ghani made it clear to the officials concerned that he wouldn’t tolerate any slackness on their part in the disposal of animal and other municipal waste on EidulAzha. He said the SSWMB should adopt its waste disposal plan for any area on EidulAzha while taking into account its ground realities. The way SSWMB has placed its waste disposal machinery in different districts shows that it has ignored the ground realities of these areas, said Ghani.
He directed the SSWMB Managing Director, Imtiaz Shah, to devise a comprehensive waste disposal plan for Karachi on EidulAzha within 24 hours after consulting the district administration and elected town chairmen. The reservations of the elected local government representatives should be allayed in this regard. Commissioners should also hold meetings with the deputy commissioners and area-elected representatives of the people to finalise arrangements for waste disposal on EidulAzha and the forthcoming monsoon rains in different districts.
He said the deputy commissioners should hold meetings at the level of union committees to finalise emergency arrangements for EidulAzha and monsoon rains in the districts where SSWMB has yet to launch its services. The Local Government Minister told participants of the meeting that satisfactory results were guaranteed if the district administration and elected representatives of the people were consulted before finalising arrangements for such essential civic services. He disclosed on the occasion that the leaves of all the municipal staffers had been cancelled for EidulAzha.
He said the same staff would perform emergency field duties on the roads during monsoon rains. He asked the district administration to keep a check on the availability of garbage dumping points, transportation of animal waste, and fumigation campaigns to ensure sanitation on EidulAzha.
Ghani directed the SSWMB chief to ensure that daily lifting and disposal of municipal waste should continue as usual on EidulAzha. He said the SSWMB should ensure availability of the vehicles for the disposal of animal waste at the UC level keeping in view the demand of the town chairmen in this regard. Every vehicle should prominently display the identification of the UC assigned to it for waste disposal work. The Local Government Minister directed the SSWMB to ensure that makeshift garbage dumping and transfer points shouldn’t be established in the vicinity of airfields and hospitals. He said the timings should be fixed for the availability of waste disposal services at the makeshift garbage collection points to be established on EidulAzha so that people residing in their vicinity shouldn’t face undue trouble. Ghani directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Local Government, Syed Khalid Hyder Shah, to write to the Inspector General of Police for police deployment at all dumping and collection points on EidulAzha.
He said the commissioners should also impose Section 144 of CRPC for one week to ensure cleanliness in their respective jurisdictions. The SSWMB MD informed the meeting that arrangements had been finalised to lift and dispose of 96,782 tonnes of animal waste and 1,56,350tonnes of municipal waste from Karachi on EidulAzha. He said the SSWMB had been in contact with the town chairmen and municipal commissioners to finalise the waste disposal arrangements. He said that keeping in view the directives of the Local Government Minister, he would convene a meeting later in the day with all the relevant officials and elected representatives to revise the waste disposal plan for EidulAzha. The mayors, commissioners, and deputy commissioners posted in different parts of Sindh attended the meeting via the video link.
