LAHORE: The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has failed to keep the city clean despite having huge financial, operational and administrative resources.

The situation seems to be worsening by the day in several localities where the people are facing severe hygiene-related issues due to littering, accumulation of solid waste on roads and non-lifting of waste by the LWMC field operation teams, Dawn has learnt.

“It seems they (cleanliness teams) are focusing on only the major city roads where the motorists, including the VVIPs, commute on a daily basis. It is really an eyewash as, contrary to the tall claims of the government, the cleanliness teams don’t bother to clear our area of the waste lying in heaps along roads,” deplores Naveed, a resident of Wafaqi Colony — a locality situated near the Canal Road.

“We complained many times for the removal of waste from our locality on a daily basis but to no avail,” he lamented while lashing out at the LWMC officials and other officers concerned of the Lahore district and divisional administration.

Company accused of focusing only major roads, main areas; CEO denies charge

It may be mentioned that the LWMC was established under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984 around 14 years ago, keeping in view the city’s solid waste management system that seemed to be neglected since long due to lack of commitment on the part of the government. The company is formed not for profit under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance. It is governed by a board of directors (BoD), headed by a chairman. The company, through an agreement called SAAMA (Services and Asset Management Agreement), had taken over all the functions and assets of SWM department of the City District Government of Lahore. It aimed at developing an integrated system of solid waste management to ensure efficient collection, transportation, recovery, treatment and disposal of the waste generated in Lahore.

Talking to Dawn, an official source in the Local Government and Community Development Department, said company never paid much heed to keeping the residential areas clean as its CEOs, who were always posted for a short time after being transferred from the mainstream government portfolios on a deputation basis, preferred major thoroughfares and localities—such as the Mall Road, Canal Road, Jail Road, Multan Road, Lower Mall, Ferozepur Road, Lytton Road, Allama Iqbal Road and main boulevards of major state-owned housing schemes.

“You know the VIP movement in Lahore always remains on the aforementioned roads, areas etc. So they (the VIPs) feel happy to see these areas clean without knowing about the real facts,” the official, requesting anonymity, added.

He urged Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to monitor the cleanliness drives, especially her recently launched ‘Suthra Punjab campaign’ very closely to ensure Lahore and other cities were free of waste.

On the other hand, the people continue to suffer due to various issues related to cleanliness in Lahore.

“You visit this road (near Ayub Chowk). You will find solid-waste scattered in greenbelts (right and left),” said Yasin, a resident of Johar Town. Similarly, the residents of Mughalpura, Sahuwari, Kotli Peer Abdul Rehman, Dubanpura, Mandi Stop (Multan Road), Ravi Road and others also lodged similar complaints.

When contacted, LWMC CEO Babar Sahib Din dispelled the impression of focusing the major roads/areas alone and neglecting several other localities.

“It’s not true that we are focusing on the major parts of the city alone, as we are making entire Lahore parts in our domain clean,” he maintained.

He said though there are some semi-urban and rural areas of Lahore that remained neglected to some extent, but in the Suthra Punjab campaign, the company is also making efforts to make such areas/localities zero-waste.

He said a number of private waste loaders/rickshaws were dumping on the roads unlawfully instead of the designated sites.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, in a meeting on sanitation, Ramazan package delivery, sewage and encroachments issues, directed the authorities concerned to do all relevant jobs, including cleanliness, efficiently.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2024