City lacks proper solid waste management system

A proper system of solid waste management is lacking in the city and the various bodies responsible for waste disposal are inefficient. Hardly 40 per cent of the waste is collected at a time due to lack of resources and poorly administered collection and disposal system.
A city with a rapidly expanding population, the existing waste management capacity is inadequate and outmoded and needs to be improved, otherwise the problem of ineffective solid waste management services will continue to haunt those living in urban areas.
In order to improve the existing situation of solid waste management, there is a need to develop an effective linkage between the community, informal sector and local government. One major problem is that the local authorities are reluctant to collect garbage from the low-income settlements. In absence of municipal services for solid waste collection and disposal, low-income families have been organising themselves to collect and dispose solid waste.
Solid waste, which is not collected or burnt, is thrown in drains, which results in choking of drains and further pollutes the environment. National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) Chairman Muhammad Naeem Qureshi said lack of a solid waste management policy for the mega city is the mother of all the evils that has ruined city's environment.
The daily production of the garbage and litter comes to around 9,500 metric tons of which only a faction is lifted and disposed. Of 217 garbage lifting vehicles, just 40 are moving around, he said adding that the financial crunch of the KMC has been manifold. The fact is that corruption has ruined public utilities and there are dens of litter in every nook and cranny, he noted. He claimed that the misappropriation of public money has slowed down the pace of cleanliness. As a result, the TMAs dump the litter into natural drains of the city including the Lyari and Malir Rivers. Subsequently, the sea is heavily polluted and has eliminated mangroves and different species of prawn and fish from the shore.