Need Stressed To Develop Landfill Sites In Rural Areas

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jun, 2017 ) : There is an urgent need to develop landfill sites in rural areas of the province for management of solid waste in a proper way. Land should be identified for these sites, Punjab Minister for Cooperatives Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channer said while speaking at a meeting here on Saturday.

The provincial government had devised Punjab Clean Cities Roadmap Programme (PCCRP) in this regard, he added. A sum of Rs 15 billion had been allocated in the budget to clean rural areas under the PCCRP, he added.

He said that cleanliness was part of Muslim faith as it is called `Nisf Eman' (half of the faith). The minister said that the government wanted to take people on board to get the task done.

"One of the major issues we are facing is to find out dumping ground for solid waste," he said.

He said that the public and local representatives concerned must come forward in this regard and identify the places which could be used as landfill sites. The minister said that the PCCRP, which was being implemented in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi and Sialkot through solid waste management companies, had improved the situation of sanitation in cities.

However, a lot more had to be done in this regard, he added. The minister said that the government had expanded the solid waste management programme to rural areas.