Minister for Local Government Elections and Rural Development Department Faisal Amin Gandapur on Tuesday inaugurated Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar’s sanitary landfill cell (SLC). The company will now be able to dump waste in an environmental-friendly manner.
Chief Executive Officer WSSP Dr Hassan Nasir, General Manager Projects Dr Mehboob Alam, Zonal Manager Engr Anwarul Haq and other staff of WSSP were also present on the occasion. The minister also planted a sapling under the ongoing monsoon tree plantation drive at the site.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister lauded WSSP for constructing the landfill cell from its own funds and congratulated the company’s management for timely completion of the project. The minister said such projects would help improve environment and provide job opportunities in future. The company becomes the first-ever in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to have constructed and owns a landfill cell. The landfill site was constructed at a cost of Rs22.4 million. It is 130 meters long and 60 meters wide and its surface is covered with a geo-membrane that prevent seepage of wastewater in ground and protect groundwater from contamination.
Dr Alam briefed the minister that the cell was based on a technique for the final disposal of solid waste in a pit that causes no nuisance or danger to public health and safety. “It doesn’t cause any harm to the environment during or after operation,” he said.
Based on engineering principles, waste is confined at such a small an area as possible, Dr Alam said, adding that the waste would be covered with layers of soil and compacted to reduce its volume.