ISLAMABAD   -  Everyday, Islamabad Expressway, the city’s major artery, becomes a landfill as overloaded and improperly covered waste management trucks from the Capital De­velopment Authority (CDA) spill litter onto it. This transforms daily commutes into a nightmare, particularly for bikers.

With approximately 1,200 tonnes of garbage generated daily by the capital, this careless and unhygienic disposal highlights the CDA’s negligence in waste management. The situation has prompt­ed urgent pleas for action from frustrated travelers, forced to navigate an unsani­tary and stinky environment that threat­ens both their comfort and health. The annoyed commuters have expressed their outrage on this situation when talking to APP. Ahmed Khan, a bank official who travels from Model Town Hummak to Melody Islamabad, shared, “I can’t believe this is what our city has come to. Every day, it’s like driving through a pungent trash dump.” Another commuter, Bilal Ahmed, a government employee who rides his bike from Jinnah Garden to the Secretariat, recounted a particularly terri­ble experience. “On a rainy day, I got splat­tered with garbage on my way home. And it was a nightmare. I had to take a bath and change clothes as soon as I got home, and I lost my appetite for days because of it.” “Despite numerous complaints, there seems to be little response from the civic body.Their failure to enforce proper waste management protocols raises questions about their commitment to public health and safety. Commuters continue to expe­rience unpleasant odors and hazardous conditions. “It’s unacceptable,” said Zahid Shah, who commutes daily from Sihala to F-7 and vice versa. The CDA currently col­lects garbage from the city and temporar­ily dumps it at I-11 before transporting it to Losar. They are also working on es­tablishing a proper transfer station at I-9, expected to be completed in six months.

The CDA has frequently proposed set­ting up a “scientific landfill” site, only to change plans later. They are now looking to acquire land in Losar after negotia­tions with the Rawalpindi administration. However, they have relied on temporary arrangements due to the unavailability of a landfill site in Islamabad. This lack of a proper landfill has even been brought be­fore the Islamabad High Court, which di­rected the CDA to resolve the issue, under­scoring the urgent need for a sustainable solution. An official of Sanitation Depart­ment in a recent statement to media had informed that they were in talks to pro­cure land in Losar for a proper landfill site, noting that the board had approved a six-month extension with Rawalpindi Waste Management Company for this purpose.

Last year, the CDA proposed sites at Kuri and Dhoke Jando near Nicholson’s Monument, but previous proposals have faced rejection. The lack of a landfill site has even been brought before the Islam­abad High Court, which directed the CDA to resolve the issue. “It is unfortunate that a city of around three million people has no proper landfill,” said a lawyer in­volved in the case, emphasizing the en­vironmental and health risks. An official from the CDA mentioned that the agency spends over two billion rupees annually on waste management. If a proper land­fill site were developed, it could poten­tially generate revenue through waste-to-energy projects. Previously, the CDA dumped garbage in the residential area of I-12 until a court ruling in 2022 shift­ed outside residential zones. In the past, the CDA had chosen a site at Kuri village based on recommendations from inter­national consultants, but this project was shelved in 2011, allegedly to appease housing scheme owners. Since then, the civic agency has moved temporary land­fill sites from one location to another.