The Punjab government had launched the Suthra Punjab project for garbage collection and sanitation in the province four months ago however, the project is practically limited to advertisements, billboards and expenditures on the vehicles and uniforms of sweepers from the solid waste management companies.
Till date, the sanitation system in the low-income areas of Lahore, including Wagah, Nishtar, Ravi, Samanabad, Data Ganj Bakhsh Town and other areas, remains deplorable. Except for a few posh areas of the city including Gulberg Town, Raiwind, Jati Umra and Adda Plot, garbage collection has not been started in downscale areas.
Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Nasir, and Noman Naeem, three locals from Harbanspura, Nishtar Colony and Baghbanpura confirmed that more than four months had passed since the project had started — however, the Suthra Punjab project team had still not visited their areas.
“Even today, we pay monthly charges to private garbage collectors. Although main roads in our areas are cleaned, there is no sanitation system in the streets, neighborhoods and small areas. The private garbage collector charges Rs200 to Rs500 per month from each household. We are not getting any benefit from this project, which appears operational only in government advertisements,” lamented the locals.
According to information available to the Express Tribune, the outsourced Suthra Punjab program is a long-term project costing more than Rs190 billion. Under this project, garbage is to be collected from the doorsteps of citizens across all cities of Punjab. In this regard, the government has also implemented a garbage tax.
However, in Lahore, despite a budget of Rs20 billion, door-to-door garbage collection has been initiated in residential areas from only 100 out of 274 union councils due to the unavailability of machinery, inattention of officers and other reasons. Moreover, the deadline for garbage collection across all 274 union councils, set for March 30th, could not be met either.
According to Mian Sohail Hanif Bhandara, an urban planner, the government has started the Suthra Punjab project without an effective strategy hence more than four months have passed yet the results are yet to been seen. “The garbage collection operation has been outsourced after dividing urban and rural areas. Due to this distinction, cleaning is done on a daily basis in a few areas, while some areas are cleaned weekly and others do not even have an effective sanitation system. If the government had started phase-wise work on the project, effective results would have been seen. Unless the solid waste companies, in collaboration with the municipality and corporation, formulate an effective plan for garbage collection, the Suthra Punjab project will not be fruitful,” assessed Bhandara.
Chief Executive Officer Lahore Solid Waste Management Company (LWMC) Babar Sahib Deen claimed that on the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Suthra Punjab program was successfully underway to provide garbage collection services in rural areas as it is provided in cities. “Several complaints have been received regarding non-collection of garbage in some areas of Lahore, and these complaints are being addressed,” said Deen.