Lahore: Citizens pay for delay in landfill project

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Ali Raza
DELAY in the acquisition of land for the first-ever scientific landfill site in the provincial capital is behind dumping of solid waste in the open - a dangerous practice seriously affecting the quality of underground water, air and health of people in adjoining areas.

Presently, the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Department of the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) is disposing of solid waste at three landfill sites located at Mehmood Booti, Baghrian and Sagian Bridge.

CDGL sources revealed that none of the three sites were environment-friendly and were disposing of waste in violation of rules and regulations formulated by the Ministry of Environment. They said all three sites are termed dumping sites and not landfill sites. Sources claimed that only the landfill site of Mehmood Booti is officially declared a landfill site while SWM authorities have unofficially allowed disposal of solid waste and garbage at the two others sites.

Sources said none of the three sites have any liners (sheets of plastics laid in the soil to stop chemicals seeping into ground water) and chemicals from discarded items such as batteries, paints, and cleaners can leach directly into underground aquifers. The chances of contamination of drinking water with benzene, toluene, and vinyl chloride is common near landfills, said a senior officer of the Environment Protection Department (EPD) adding the number of people suffering from diseases because of these open waste dumping sites is on the rise.

EPD sources revealed that some months ago the department conducted a survey of localities near landfill site of Mehmood Booti revealed that almost every third person in families living nearby was suffering from respiratory, abdominal, stomach or other diseases. Most of the people blame contaminated drinking water and unhygienic air for their health problems.

CDGL figures reveal that over 6,000 tonnes of solid waste is generated daily in the provincial metropolis while over 500 tonnes of waste is generated in Lahore Cantonment Board, Model Town Society and Defence Housing Society areas. No proper landfill site exists. The lifting capacity of SWM is only 5,000 tonne and the remaining 1,000 tonne of solid waste and garbage went into city drains or remained scattered on roads. Environmental experts said if a landfill site is constructed ignoring scientific methods then it serves no purpose and such a site was called a dumping ground only. They said a number of adverse effects may occur from such landfill operations. They said these included pollution of local environment (contamination of groundwater and/or aquifers), off gassing of methane generated by decaying organic wastes; harbouring of disease vectors such as rats and flies, particularly from improperly operated landfills and nuisance problems (dust, odour, vermin, or noise pollution).

Scientifically, a landfill site should contain a network of drains to collect leachate (liquid released by solid and other waste during decomposition process) and pumping system to pump it to the surface where it can be treated. Ground wells are also drilled into and around the landfill to monitor groundwater quality and to detect any contamination. These safety measures keep ground water, which is the main source of drinking water in many communities, clean and pure, experts said. On the other hand, none of the three landfill sites had such a system.

Experts said the landfill was divided into a series of individual cells to protect the environment. Only a few cells of the site (called the working face) are filled with trash at any one time, minimizing exposure to wind and rain and at the end of each day, workers spread a layer of earth—called the daily cover—over the waste to reduce odour and control vermin population. Workers fill and cap each cell with a layer of clay and earth, and then seed the area with native grasses but in Lahore application of such methods is a only a pipe dream.

When a landfill is full, workers seal and cover the landfill with a final cap of clay and dirt. Workers continue to monitor the ground wells for years after a landfill is closed to keep tabs on the quality of groundwater on and around the site.

Solid Waste Management District Officer Rafique Jatoi told The News that the CDGL was in the process of acquisition of 900 kanals of land in Katcha area. He said the delay was due to legal requirements of getting an NOC from the EPD for which Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report was required. He said the CDGL had engaged NESPAK for carrying out the EIA study of the project, which according to him had been completed and the final EIA report was recently submitted to the EPD for approval. He said the new landfill site will be constructed at a cost of over Rs 500 million and will be the first-ever scientific landfill site in Punjab.

Talking about various types of pollution being generated by the landfill sites, he said all these problems will be solved after the construction of the new scientific landfill site in the city.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=200094