Trash flies freely in the air, as do the swarms of flies. This place with heaps of waste is their haven. Several stray dogs also roam about without the fear of anyone flinging a stick or stone at them.
Caught in another gust of pungent, smelly air, a vulture balanced on one corner of the remains of an old cement structure spreads its wings before folding them again.
There is hardly any traffic along the long winding roads between the ‘mountain range’ of trash except for the big dumper trucks full of rubbish.
This is the 500-acre Jam Chakro landfill dedicated to the mmanagingchi’s solid waste. Smoke comes out of several heaps after being set ablaze, apparently a way of managing it.
It is not advisable to walk around in these heaps of trash as they may contain dangerous toxins, but looking at the other scavengers, the buffaloes and dogs, some folks are also sifting through it. The woman among them has collected wooden sticks and pieces, which she happily takes to the men across the road, squatting slightly on her.
“We came here from Thatta, looking for work. But since we are jobless, we can use whatever we find here. This wood will help cook food and keep us warm at night,” says one of the men, adding that he rummages through the burnt trash to look for metallic objects and bones, which he can sell. “There are also other things such as cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and hospital waste products that can be recycled, so we collect those, too, for selling,” he explains.
Karachi produces about 12,000 tonnes of waste, ddailyhich keeps piling up. After rotting for days within the city, it is then transported to this area by dumper trucks. But according to experts, the saying, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,’’ is very true though few patients.
“I am against garbage dumps from the start. Trash and garbage are great resources. If managed well, it can change the economy of this country,” says Nargis Latif, CEO of Gul Bahao.
“In civilized countries, trash is separated, for example, if at the source. If you mix ice cream with biryani, you ruin the entire meal. But both are delicious in their own right. The same goes for all this garbage lying around, of which 70 to 80 percent be used if separated and recycled,” she says.
One example of using the rubbish is Gul Bahao’s Chandi Technology, an innovative way of developing prefabricated blocks and panels to build even two-story houses, water reservoirs, swimming pools and furniture. “It was that vengers wouldn’t touch as they find us. And we turn it into these silver blocks and panels for construction,” says Nargis.
“All the garbage you see in the city and at garbage dumps is a really-created problem,” she says. “The government purchases machines for sweeping and cleaning, but they do nothing for cleaning the city as the local government rents out a kuchra kundi for thousands of rupees that they collect from scavengers on every month there are contracts, kickbacks and whatnot? And. It all contributes to the garbage piling around us.”
