Practice and Conditions of Solid Waste Management in Ahmedpur East, Bahawalpur, Pakistan: A Way Forward

Abstract

Solid waste management is a worldwide issue prevailing mostly in developing countries. Ahmedpur East is currently facing various environmental and health issues, including poor solid waste management (SWM). Therefore, the present study aimed to overview the solid waste practice and proposed few suggestions to bring improvement in the SWM. Primary data gathered through a field survey in three chowks of the city using a questionnaire from 120 sampled respondents and analyzed by applying descriptive statistics. Findings reveal that almost 95% of solid waste is inappropriately thrown open in the fields and streets and creating severe problems. Moreover, the generation rate of solid waste was expected to increase in coming years with expanding population. Inappropriate dumping of solid waste was created informal dumping points near the streets and roads and evolving pollution, diseases and garbage heaps widely possibly due to the significant shortage of solid waste containers and litter bins. The majority of the residents were not willing to pay any payment to the private waste collector, except few ones who were agreed to pay less than 100 PKR per month. TMA city was not fully accomplished with SWM due to faulty and limited equipments. Lastly, a few suggestions were proposed to bring betterment in SWM in the city.