Halting waste disposal in Karachi during COVID-19 lockdown simply unacceptable: NFEH.

KARACHI -- The National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) has expressed serious concern that the municipal waste disposal work has come to a virtual halt in several areas of Karachi during the COVID-19 emergency lockdown.

In a press statement issued on Monday, the NFEH President and Convener Standing committee on Environment Federation of Pakistan chamber of commerce and Industries

Naeem Qureshi said that halting the waste disposal work in Karachi during a serious health emergency like COVID-19 was simply a recipe for disaster.

"We are simply inviting a disaster if we stop municipal waste disposal in Karachi during an epidemic as resultantly issues related to public health will get worsened," he said.

Mr. Qureshi said that the waste disposal work should be quickened during an epidemic as for the purpose minimal human resource and maximum mechanical means should be utilized to protect the health of the municipal staffers.

"Most importantly the municipal workers who do waste disposal work should be provided with all the safety gear to protect them against the viral disease," he said.

He said that the Sindh Government's Local Government Department, municipal agencies, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, were not on the...