HYDERABAD, March 31: A landfill site adjacent to the Tando Mohammad Khan road in front of Cattle Colony has been earmarked for disposal of the city’s garbage.

This was stated by DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed while presiding over a meeting regarding solid waste management at the Shahbaz Hall here on Wednesday.

He told the meeting that presently garbage of all three taluka municipal administrations of Hyderabad was being disposed of at nearest depressions, alongside roads, canals, parks and playgrounds, posing health hazard to people.

He said the Sindh governor, chief minister and the adviser on local government during their recent visits to Hyderabad had taken serious notice of the unhygienic condition and had directed for selecting a landfill site far from the city.

The DCO directed the DDO, revenue, Latifabad, to submit a summary to the Board of Revenue requesting for allotment of the 42 acres of land selected for landfill to the district government. He said more such sites would also be identified to ensure safe disposal of garbage.

He informed the meeting that according to a rough estimate, about 1.5 million population of the Hyderabad city was generating 375,000kg garbage per day.

He said modern and scientific techniques were required to dispose of the garbage. He said this was a big task which could be performed with public-private partnership. Therefore, he said, the task would be privatized.

Mr Syed directed City, Latifabad and Qasimabad TMAs to get in touch with the Directorate of the Institute of Environment Engineering and Management of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology and prepare plans for collection, transportation and scientific disposal of garbage from their talukas. He said the TMAs should prepare strategy in such a way that safe disposal of garbage could be made through private contractors. He further directed them to prepare health and sanitation infrastructure profile with details of refuse vans, workable machinery, statistics of present population and garbage generation, garbage collection crew and total expenditure so that future planning could be made.

He said the district government would also help the TMAs in providing refuse vans, excavators, and tractors in case of any shortage with a view to enabling them to collect and transport garbage properly.

He directed the management of the Environmental Protection Agency, Hyderabad, to form at least two environmental clubs, one each at an educational institution for girls and a boys’ institute, in every taluka of the district. He said the EPA should also prepare a summary requesting the Sindh education department to include environment subject in the syllabus at secondary and higher secondary school levels.

The DCO advised the EPA to get expert opinion from organizations concerned to minimize waste material in addition to its safe disposal.

He also directed for launching a media campaign to make people aware and create a sense of responsibility among them about cleanliness.