RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Citizen Rights Movement Chairman Zaheer Ahmed Awan has said that the sanitation situation in Union Councils 10 and 11 of Khayaban-e-Sir Syed has deteriorated badly, with large heaps of garbage accumulating in different areas and causing stench, foul smell and the spread of various diseases.
Talking to the media near garbage heaps in Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, he said the Pakistan Citizen Rights Movement was running a daily cleanliness awareness campaign in different union councils of the city, under which citizens were being encouraged to fulfil their responsibility and dispose of waste in dustbins.
He said, on the other hand, it was the basic responsibility of Suthra Punjab to lift garbage daily without waiting for any complaint and keep urban areas clean.
Mr Awan said his team was identifying garbage accumulated in open plots, drains, nullahs and around Nullah Lai through pictures, videos and Google pin locations and sending the details to the relevant authorities so that immediate cleanliness could be ensured.
He regretted that the Suthra Punjab Authority had not so far ensured cleanliness at several locations pointed out by the movement.
He said the poor sanitation condition of the city was being continuously highlighted through social media, electronic media and print media. He alleged that due to negligence, poor supervision and absence from the field by operation managers, senior operation managers and the chief executive officer, complaints had also surfaced that garbage was being set on fire at several places instead of being lifted.
He said thousands of tonnes of garbage were being dumped in drains, nullahs and around Nullah Lai, posing a serious threat to citizens’ health and the environment.
Mr Awan demanded that the Punjab chief minister, Punjab chief secretary and Rawalpindi commissioner immediately launch a special cleanliness operation in the inner city on an emergency basis, ensure cleanliness at all identified points, stop burning of waste and illegal dumping, and take effective action against the responsible officials.
He said cleanliness was not only the responsibility of the public but also a basic official duty of the relevant institutions and officers, adding that negligence in this regard could not be tolerated.
