PESHAWAR: The Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) collects around 500 tonnes of waste daily from 42 union councils, but nearly 11,000 manholes across the city remain without covers, posing a safety hazard to residents. The figures were shared at a meeting chaired by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi at the Governor House on Friday to review WSSP’s performance, budget, workforce, operational challenges and ongoing projects. Local Government Adviser Asif Rafiq and WSSP Chief Executive Officer Quratul Ain Wazir attended the meeting. Briefing the governor, Ms Wazir said WSSP collected waste from around 58,000 households daily. The organisation has a workforce of 4,052 employees and a fleet of 474 vehicles for solid waste management. She said WSSP also operated 547 tube wells and 38 filtration plants, supplying between 50 million and 60 million gallons of water to the city each day. To improve sanitation services, staff had been deployed in three shifts. The organisation was also running awareness campaigns in schools and engaging religious scholars to promote cleanliness and a healthy environment through Friday sermons. The meeting was informed that the recovery of water bills remained a challenge, although efforts were under way to improve the collection system. Mr Kundi directed the relevant authorities to explore the conversion of tube wells to solar power and resolve water supply problems on a priority basis. He also called for urgent steps to install covers on the uncovered manholes, saying the issue needed to be addressed without delay. He said he would personally visit different parts of Peshawar to assess civic problems and review the performance of the departments concerned. The governor further directed WSSP to recall employees assigned to domestic work at private residences and deploy them to their designated field duties. Appreciating the efforts of WSSP staff, Mr Kundi assured the organisation that its operational problems would be addressed. He said all possible support would be extended to improve sanitation services and ensure the supply of clean drinking water to the people of Peshawar. DLP Report
