Official vehicles lie abandoned in Rawalpindi parking lot

RAWALPINDI: Old garbage-collecting vehicles of the defunct City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) are gathering dust in the parking lot of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa).

The district administration has failed to dispose of the old and faulty vehicles or repair them, and instead have dumped them in the parking area adjacent to Liaquat Bagh. These seven to 10 vehicles have become a breeding point for dengue larvae.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that the deputy commissioner visited the site last week and found dengue larvae there and asked the concerned departments to conduct spray in the area.

He said that the old vehicles belonged to defunct CDGR’s Solid Waste Management Department and had not been transferred to Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC).

He said that after formation of RWMC, new vehicles had been procured by Albayrak Company which was the contractor to lift and transport garbage from the city to the landfill site at Losar.

He said that last year the Albayrak contract with RWMC ended and the latter handed over the machinery to the RWMC.

The official said that the rusty vehicles were not used in last 10 years and the local administration did not make any effort to repair or dispose them of. He said now these vehicles have become scrap and useless.

On the other hand, Wasa has been requesting the local administration to remove the vehicles from its parking area.

Officials of Wasa said that the agency had limited space for parking its water tankers and other vehicles and the presence of the old vehicles occupied a major chunk of its parking area.

They said that it was difficult for the agency to ensure cleanliness in the parking area, especially during monsoon season. The parking area is adjacent to the waterworks of Liaquat Bagh.

When contacted, Wasa spokesman Umer Farooq said that the rusty vehicles did not belong to Wasa and it had asked the district administration to clear the area from the vehicles.

He said the agency was keeping the area neat and clean, adding there was no evidence of dengue breeding point in the area.