LAHORE:Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Kamran Ali Afzal has directed the authorities concerned to take action against housing societies and individuals involved in illegal dumping of garbage.
He issued these directions while presiding over a meeting here on Saturday, to review the cleanliness arrangements in Lahore and the performance of Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC).
The CS said that as per law, stern action would be taken against those involved in illegal dumping after issuing a warning to them. He said that it was a collective responsibility of all to take care of sanitation and support the efforts of the government to improve cleanliness.
Praising the performance of LWMC, the chief secretary also issued instructions to further improve sanitation arrangements in the city. He said that timely redress of complaints of the citizens regarding cleanliness must be ensured, adding that provision of a clean environment to citizens was a priority of the government.
The Lahore divisional commissioner said that the LWMC had started implementing the short and medium-term plans to keep the city clean and zero waste operation was successfully completed in all the towns. He said that 16,000 tonnes of garbage from Shalimar Town, 12,000 tonnes from Ravi Town, 14,000 tonnes from Nishtar Town, 11,000 tonnes from Samanabad Town, 8,000 tonnes from Gulberg Town, 8,000 tonnes from Aziz Bhatti Town, 14,000 tonnes from Wagah Town, and 22,000 tonnes of waste from Allama Iqbal Town was collected. He said that 666 employees of LWMC were sacked over continuous absence from duty while one thousand sanitary workers and 171 drivers were recruited. He said that water was being sprayed on the roads to prevent smog.
The Lahore Development Authority director-general, WASA managing director, PHA DG, CEO LWMC, and officers attended the meeting.