By Ali Raza
LAHORE: Instead of controlling dust pollution, mechanical sweepers of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of City District Government Lahore (CDGL) are spreading dust.
The SWM, owns two big vacuum sweepers, 33 trolley sweepers and two small mechanical sweepers. The SWM uses these sweepers in various city localities to clean roads and most of these vehicles are brought on roads early in the morning or late at night.
Interestingly, the two big vacuum sweepers were designated for big city roads like The Mall and Bund Road while remaining sweepers were used on medium and small roads. The SWM officials said according to the policy the sweepers could only collect dust from roads at night or early in the morning and then dispose it of in the street containers or at the dumping sites of the SWM.
Sources said the SWM authorities were operating the sweepers in two shifts i.e. day and night. They claimed that majority of the sweepers did not follow the policy of disposing of dust in street containers or at the dumping sites. They claimed that majority of the drivers of mechanical sweepers disposed of dust in empty plots or in the open sewers and drainage system of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA).
The sources said several complaints regarding the issue had already been filed before the SWM authorities but so far no action had been taken against any of the driver or the officials incharge of the operation of mechanical sweepers.
They said the two big vacuum sweepers, VS-1 and VS-II by SWM, used to dispose of dust at the dumping sites only but, practically, they dispose of collected dust at open places, near street containers and in the Ravi river.
On Wednesday, The News photographer got shots of one of the vacuum sweepers when it was disposing of dust into the river Ravi from Sagian Bridge. The vehicle with labelled as VS-I was standing in middle of the bridge and throwing dust into the river besides creating clouds of dust on the bridge causing difficulties for the passers-by.
The city is already facing heavy industrial pollution, especially steel related, which are using used tyers and sub-standard rubber products to keep their machines alive and release pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides and toxic metals, the major source of air pollution in the provincial capital without any control and check.
Environmental experts said that Particulate Matter (PM), which is commonly known as Dust is very dangerous for human health. They said the air pollutants restrict photosynthesis, increase respiratory infections, birth defects, acid rains, and lung damage. They further said that lead and cadmium were also present in the fumes released by steel industry that caused collapse of central nervous system and degeneration of joints, lung and kidney diseases respectively.
Arif, incharge of the said vehicle, admitted that throwing collected dust in the river Ravi was an illegal act. He said the vacuum sweepers were very big in size so they could not dispose of dust in street containers so he directed the drivers to dispose of dust near street containers, which was lifted in the morning. He also admitted that these vehicles were brought on roads in two shifts.
Mudassar Waheed, District Officer SWM, said the department had passed strict directions to the drivers of mechanical sweepers to dispose of dust in containers or at dumping sites only. He said no other option was given to them and in case of complaint strict action would be taken against the driver.
LAHORE: Instead of controlling dust pollution, mechanical sweepers of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of City District Government Lahore (CDGL) are spreading dust.
The SWM, owns two big vacuum sweepers, 33 trolley sweepers and two small mechanical sweepers. The SWM uses these sweepers in various city localities to clean roads and most of these vehicles are brought on roads early in the morning or late at night.
Interestingly, the two big vacuum sweepers were designated for big city roads like The Mall and Bund Road while remaining sweepers were used on medium and small roads. The SWM officials said according to the policy the sweepers could only collect dust from roads at night or early in the morning and then dispose it of in the street containers or at the dumping sites of the SWM.
Sources said the SWM authorities were operating the sweepers in two shifts i.e. day and night. They claimed that majority of the sweepers did not follow the policy of disposing of dust in street containers or at the dumping sites. They claimed that majority of the drivers of mechanical sweepers disposed of dust in empty plots or in the open sewers and drainage system of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA).
The sources said several complaints regarding the issue had already been filed before the SWM authorities but so far no action had been taken against any of the driver or the officials incharge of the operation of mechanical sweepers.
They said the two big vacuum sweepers, VS-1 and VS-II by SWM, used to dispose of dust at the dumping sites only but, practically, they dispose of collected dust at open places, near street containers and in the Ravi river.
On Wednesday, The News photographer got shots of one of the vacuum sweepers when it was disposing of dust into the river Ravi from Sagian Bridge. The vehicle with labelled as VS-I was standing in middle of the bridge and throwing dust into the river besides creating clouds of dust on the bridge causing difficulties for the passers-by.
The city is already facing heavy industrial pollution, especially steel related, which are using used tyers and sub-standard rubber products to keep their machines alive and release pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides and toxic metals, the major source of air pollution in the provincial capital without any control and check.
Environmental experts said that Particulate Matter (PM), which is commonly known as Dust is very dangerous for human health. They said the air pollutants restrict photosynthesis, increase respiratory infections, birth defects, acid rains, and lung damage. They further said that lead and cadmium were also present in the fumes released by steel industry that caused collapse of central nervous system and degeneration of joints, lung and kidney diseases respectively.
Arif, incharge of the said vehicle, admitted that throwing collected dust in the river Ravi was an illegal act. He said the vacuum sweepers were very big in size so they could not dispose of dust in street containers so he directed the drivers to dispose of dust near street containers, which was lifted in the morning. He also admitted that these vehicles were brought on roads in two shifts.
Mudassar Waheed, District Officer SWM, said the department had passed strict directions to the drivers of mechanical sweepers to dispose of dust in containers or at dumping sites only. He said no other option was given to them and in case of complaint strict action would be taken against the driver.
Published in Daily The News on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
0 comments:
Post a Comment