Permanent landfill in capital, still a distant dream.

ISLAMABAD -- For the last decade, the city managers were trying to set up a permanent landfill in the federal capital on scientific lines to improve its environment, but almost every time, their worked out plans hit a snag for one or another reason.

Resultantly, tonnes of organic and inorganic waste were being dumped in Sector I-12 to this day despite abortive attempts of the civic agencies, including Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI), in past to develop the facility at Kurri and other areas.

The CDA's recent plan of developing a landfill near Sangjani was also in limbo as the Environmental Protection Agency-Pakistan (Pak-EPA) has recently sought a reply from its Sanitation Department on the objections, raised by the residents of sector

B-17 and its surrounding areas, on the proposed site.

EPA has recently conducted a public hearing to hear arguments of all the stakeholders for and against the proposed landfill in Sangjani and then conveyed the reservations, expressed by the locals, to the CDA's sanitation department in writing, a senior official of the agency told reporter.

She said EPA had not yet received any response from the CDA sanitation department, adding, after receiving responses, the agency would take decision as per law.

'Now, its the CDA chairman who has to decide where to establish [the landfill],' said EPA Director General Farzana Altaf while responding a query via message.

Giving a background of the matter, the EPA...