PUNJAB has imposed a new garbage tax across the province under the ‘Suthra Punjab’ (Clean Punjab) initiative.
Under the scheme, urban households of five marlas will be charged Rs300 per month, while rural homes of the same size will pay Rs200. In cities, houses between five and 10 marlas will pay Rs500, compared with Rs200 in rural areas, with higher charges (going up to five thousand rupees) for larger houses. Small shops in urban centres will be charged Rs500 and Rs300 in rural areas. Medium-sized shops will pay Rs1,000 in cities and Rs700 in villages. Large commercial establishments will face a levy of Rs3,000 in urban areas and Rs2,000 in rural parts of the province.
The move will surely face resistance from citizens as presently there were no charges and the provincial government imposed no levy even when a role model garbage lifting and cleaning project was launched in collaboration with a Turkish firm. However, imposition of the tax becomes understandable in view of the province-wise Clean Punjab initiative, which involves huge expenditures. Successful implementation of the collection plans will also help raise money to fund ambitious projects like garbage treatment plants in big cities in the pattern of Japan, as indicated by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz during her recent visit to Japan. The levy can be made acceptable if the provincial government takes transparent but necessary measures to improve the quality of garbage lifting and disposal arrangements, which are abysmally poor as highlighted by heaps of garbage lying here and there in streets and roads for days. The provincial government has also imposed sewage tax for the poorly maintained sewage system, which needs to be abolished.
