Old fruit market made a dumping site

LAHORE:Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has converted old fruit and vegetable market land, one of the City’s prime lands situated next to Arfa Karim Tower on Ferozpur Road, into a waste dumping site.

Huge heaps of garbage have emerged on the land, which was vacated by Lahore Development Authority (LDA) sometimes ago and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had announced constructing a hospital on the land. Stink and odor has become a constant nuisance for the travellers, nearby residents and citizens on Ferozpur Road due to these heaps of garbage near Arfa Karim Tower. When asked, a LWMC spokesperson told The News that small vehicles of LWMC first collect waste from nearby localities and dump it on the vacant site from where it was picked up by big trucks and sent to landfill site. To a question about seeking any written permission from the LDA for converting the land into a waste transfer station, he said there may be a mutual consent.

On the other hand, Vice-Chairman LDA SM Imran expressed ignorance about giving any permission to LWMC for using the land as a waste transfer station. He said he will depute a senior LDA official to visit the site and submit a report to him. A number of City roads filled with heaps of waste and rubbish coming out of waste bins. Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) on Monday launched a special cleanliness drive to clear the City. Most of the City roads, residential localities, commercial markets and business areas were facing the same problem of scattered uncollected waste.

Many citizens including traders said the waste had not been collected for the last several days. One can witness heaps of garbage on several main roads and these heaps were so big that they have covered half of the roads and causing inconvenience for the citizens. While passing through a road connecting Faisal Town and Model Town (at the back of Model College), The News witnessed heaps of uncollected waste on a road and made a video and sent it to LWMC CEO.

Citizens of the area said the waste on this road has not been collected for over a week. Raiwind Road, Dubai Town, LDA Avenue 1, Canal Bank Road, Mohlanwal, Abdus Sattar Edhi road, College Road, Baghrian Road, Green Town, Madar-e-Millat Road, Johar Town, Shalimar Link Road, inner roads of Township, Faisal Town, Allama Iqbal Town, Karim Block, Sabzazar, Samanabad, Paki Thathi, Rajgarh, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Sheranwala Gate, Bhatti Gate, Ravi Road, Railway Station area, Nicolson Road, Brandreth Road, Outside Akbari Mandi, Shadbagh, Misri Shah, Tajpura and many other city localities are facing the same problem of scattered and uncollected waste.

Meanwhile, LWMC in a press statement issued here on Monday said that LWMC was providing extraordinary cleanliness services at Raiwind Islamic congregation. LWMC formulated a comprehensive plan prior to the event and is working according to it. According to the plan, pre-Ijtema arrangements includes lifting of waste heaps on Ijtema route, scraping of roads, water sprinkling on main routes and mechanical sweeping on roads whereas LWMC has deputed more than 35 workers in three shifts who will work day and night.

LWMC also installed additional waste bins and engaged machinery which is mechanical sweepers, loader dumpers, water boozer, etc. The LWMC spokesperson said, “It is our prime responsibility to maintain cleanliness in the City whereas the congregation at Raiwind is one of the biggest events of Lahore. Citizens should also cooperate with LWMC and contact helpline 1139 or use mobile application Clean Lahore for cleanliness in the City.

He said the LWMC launched Mission Clean Lahore Campaign to clear the entire backlog from the City. Additional machinery required for cleanliness in the City has been ensured with the approval of the Board of Directors which includes 57 dumpers, 28 Excavators, 66 trolleys, and 17 loaders.

The bidding process of the said procurement has been completed and winning contractors ensured the machinery in the field. The new agreement has been signed on priority under the chairman ship of the Procurement Committee headed by Barrister Amir Zafar Khan, he said.

Thirteen companies had participated in the bidding out of which six companies qualified on the basis of technical specifications. Due to the special efforts of Member Board of Directors barrister Amir Zafar Khan, Rs 253 million was saved in the national exchequer, he said.

The price of the Initial tender was Rs. 527 Million but later this tender was scrapped and a new advertisement was given. The revised estimated bid price for the new tender was Rs. 295 Million, which was even less than the last tender price.

It is noteworthy that the total amount of all the bids received for this contract is Rs274 million which saved Rs253 million in total. In this regard, Member Board of Directors Barrister Amir Zafar Khan stated that transparency has been ensured in the new agreement, and under this agreement not only Rs253 million has been saved but also the corruption of 230 million has been thwarted.

This agreement has been made on merit and no corruption will be done in the name of cleanliness. LWMC CEO said, “Providing cleanliness is our topmost priority and every possible step has been taken by the department for the convenience of the citizens.”He said extraordinary measures have been taken to provide exemplary cleanliness facilities to the citizens.