While Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) crackdown on people and businesses dumping waste in public places is a step in the right direction, it raises several important concerns. How can the KMC implement this initiative effectively when there is a shortage of public waste bins across the city? In many areas, residents and businesses have no choice but to dispose of waste on the streets due to lack of proper waste disposal infrastructure. Additionally, while notices are being issued to businesses such as restaurants and hotels, there is little mention of the city’s plastic recycling system, which could have helped with earlier waste disposal.
Where are the resources for proper waste segregation and disposal? Without a clear alternative to waste disposal, imposing fines or imprisonment for littering seems futile. For such initiatives to be effective, the KMC should prioritize improving public waste management infrastructure, including increasing the number of public waste bins and ensuring availability of a sustainable waste segregation system. . Otherwise, such efforts may remain merely symbolic.
Khizr Hussain
Karachi