MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT CRISES IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF PESHAWAR CITY

Due to the speedy increase in population, the solid waste management issues are becoming a challenge for the developing countries. Unhealthy collection, improper transportation and open dumping of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is causing a serious threat to the environment and the people residing in the surroundings. In Pakistan, unsustainable way of solid waste management, lack of the authorities to deal with effectively with the MSW and least vision of the society towards the emerging issues of the solid waste is depicting the worst situation in the country. To highlight the significant Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) issues in the developing countries of the world, Peshawar city has been selected as a case study. Peshawar city is experiencing serious environmental issues due to speedy urbanization pace, rapid industrialization, deficiency of the authorities to manage the solid waste issues properly and lack of public awareness towards the challenging issue. Open dumping of the MSW on the open lands, utilized as dumping sites are responsible for the environmental problems increasing day by day. The research findings clearly reveal the MSWM crises in the city. Improper MSWM practices are not only creating air, land and water pollution but it also causes the blockage of open drains, smaller canals and ruining the aesthetics of the city

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT CRISES IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF PESHAWAR CITY

Due to the speedy increase in population, the solid waste management issues are becoming a challenge for the developing countries. Unhealthy collection, improper transportation and open dumping of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is causing a serious threat to the environment and the people residing in the surroundings. In Pakistan, unsustainable way of solid waste management, lack of the authorities to deal with effectively with the MSW and least vision of the society towards the emerging issues of the solid waste is depicting the worst situation in the country. To highlight the significant Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) issues in the developing countries of the world, Peshawar city has been selected as a case study. Peshawar city is experiencing serious environmental issues due to speedy urbanization pace, rapid industrialization, deficiency of the authorities to manage the solid waste issues properly and lack of public awareness towards the challenging issue. Open dumping of the MSW on the open lands, utilized as dumping sites are responsible for the environmental problems increasing day by day. The research findings clearly reveal the MSWM crises in the city. Improper MSWM practices are not only creating air, land and water pollution but it also causes the blockage of open drains, smaller canals and ruining the aesthetics of the city

Comparison of Features of Corona Virus in Confirmed and Unconfirmed Patients In Lahore

Introduction: Coronavirus has spread rapidly in Pakistan. These patients were kept at quarantine facilities on suspicion, even before RT-PCR was done. We were able to collect clinical, laboratory, and management features from them.  Objective: To assess the features of Corona confirmed and unconfirmed patients, and compare them. It could help in deciding if confirmed and unconfirmed patients were correctly identified and managed appropriately. Material and Methods: Retrospective, Descriptive, Crossectional study between 8th April to 30th April 2020. Patient data was collected from different sites retrospectively, on a Performa. Clinical, Laboratory, and Management data as collected. It was analyzed on SPSS 23. All patients in quarantines and ICU were included, irrespective of their corona PCR status, if the treating physicians had a strong suspicion. Home quarantine and less than 15-year old patients were excluded. Results: Clinical features showed more preponderance for males and smokers. Chronic disease patients were also significantly involved. Fatigue, nasal congestion, runny nose, sickness, and vomiting were more common in confirmed patients. CURB 65 scores 3 and 4 were more in unconfirmed patients. CT involvement was more common in unconfirmed patients as was high white cells and neutrophils. More patients had mechanical ventilation in the unconfirmed group, and they also had more secondary infections and shock. Antibiotic use was more common in the confirmed group. Conclusion: Corona was more common in males and smokers. Though fever and cough were common, the presence of fatigue, runny nose, nasal congestion sickness, and vomiting discriminated confirmed patients. Antibiotics should be used irrespective of RT-PCR results, especially if CT showed an abnormality. &nbsp

Guidelines for the technical sustainability evaluation of the urban drinking water systems based on analytic hierarchy process

The challenge of achieving and measuring urban water sustainability is hard because of its complex nature. The sustainability of urban drinking water system (UDWS) is no exception, as integration of technical, environmental, social, economic, and institutional elements of sustainability is defying and perplexing in terms of its application and evaluation. This paper deals with the technical aspects related to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance factors of a UDWS. Measurement of the status of such factors is almost impossible in generic formats. Therefore, a list of measurable sub factors was developed through an extensive literature survey and refined by involving appropriate stakeholders. This led to the development of a hierarchy from criteria to factors and from factors to sub factors, making a case for the utilization of an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for multicriteria analysis (MCA). Appropriate stakeholders were included in this research to address the issues for which there were major gaps in the literature. A set of guidelines were developed for the evaluation of the status of various sub factors in a quantitative format. It is concluded that a trans disciplinary framework, the involvement of stakeholders, and guidelines for adopting appropriate processes and techniques may improve the sustainability of stressed urban water systems.Web of Science121art. no.

Sustainability of Community-Based Drinking Water Systems in Developing Countries

Note:A basic framework for sustainable community-based drinking water systems (CBDWS) is studied in this research program; it is based on the performance of existing water supply systems and on the responses to a survey by the various stakeholders. A model for overall sustainability was developed and validated through its application to about 70 CBDWS in rural settings of northern areas of ' Pakistan (as part of a developing country case study). In addition, analyses and scenario projections of environmental component of sustainability were made along with detailed analyses and syntheses of statistical surveys to gauge stakeholder perspectives and priorities and to incorporate the results in overall sustainability. The study concluded that sustainable CBDWS can be developed and operated only with active participation of stakeholders (grouped by experience as technical, environmental, economic, social, and institutional). The system must maintain safe and drinkable water resources (environmental considerations) and lso maintain the potential for renewability through technically optimized design, high quality execution and regular infrastructure maintenance in an economically beneficial and self-reliant set-up. Social and institutional involvement must also be an integral part of the system. Failure of any of these components can affect the sustainability of the entire system. A relevant definition for sustainable CBDWS was formulated, along with the development of a new model for CBDWS sustainability. The model showed that. properly maintained sources, proper infrastructure, aware society, stable economy, and effective institutions are linke<! components of a sustainable CBDWS, and failure of any of these components can affect the sustainability of the entire system. Scenarios for population that would be without access to improved drinking water in 2015 were also projected on the basis of a field study. The field study concluded that environmental sustainability in terms of capacity, quality, reliability and protectio of drinking water sources is critical. Projection of the field study fmdings to a broader level shows that unless urgent measures are undertaken, serious fallbacks may occur in the established Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations. In the context of the relevant MDG, such fallbacks can reverse the situation to a previously unsustainable condition. The stakeholder subjectivities and priorities for the various elements of CBDWS were examined and quantifiably incorporated into the system. The environmental and institutional components appeared as higher priorities among the various group stakeholders. The environmental component is a higher priority among stakeholders with natural sciences and engineering backgrounds, whereas institutional component (related to community institutions) is the foremost priority for stakeholders with social sciences backgrounds. Finally, for monitoring and evaluating CBDWS, a cost-effective and user-friendly but well-defmed and systematic applied framework capab e of accommodating field data with varying levels of quality was developed.Un cadre de base pour les systemes d'eau potable communautaires durables (CBDWS) est etudie dans ce programme de recherche, il est base sur la performance des systemes d'approvisionnement en eau existantes et sur les reponses a une enquete menee par les differents intervenants. Un modele de durabilite globale a ete developpee et validee par son application a environ 70 CBDWS en milieu rural des regions du nord du Pakistan (dans le cadre d'une etude de cas de pays en developpement). En outre, les analyses et les projection_s du scenario de composante environnementale du developpement durable ont ete faites ainsi que des analyses et des syntheses detaillees des enquetes statistiques pour evaluer les perspectives et les priorites parties prenantes et d'integrer les resultats en matiere de durabilite globale. L'etude conclut que CBDWS durables peuvent etre developpes et exploites uniquement avec la participation active des parties prenantes (defini dans !'etude:techniques, environnementales, economiques, sociales et institutionnelles). Le systeme doit conserver' des ressources en eau salubre et potable (considerations environnementales) et aussi de mainten'ir le potentiel de renouvellement grace a une conception techniquement optimise, )'execution de haute qualite et unentretien regulier de )'infrastructure d'une maniere economiquement avantageuse et autonomes set-up. L'engagement social ·et institutionnel doit egalement faire partie integrante du systeme. Defaillance d'un de ces composants peut affecter la durabilite de !'ensemble du systeme.Une definition pertinente pour CBDWS durable a ete elabore, avec le developpement d'un nouveau modele de durabilite CBDWS. Le modele indique que les sources sont bien entretenus, infrastructures adequates, la societe consciente, une economie stable et des institutions efficaces sont des elements necessaires et lies d'une CBDWS durables, et l'echec de l'un de ces composantspeut affeder la durabjlite de !'ensemble du systeme. Scenarios pour la population qui seraient sans acces a !'eau potable en 2015 ont egalement ete projetees sur la base d'une etude de terrain. L'etude de terrain a conclu que la durabilite de l'environnement en termes de capacite, la qualite, la fiabilite et la protection des sources d'eau potable est essentielle. Projection des conclusions de !'etude sur le terrain a une plus grande echelle montre que si des mesures urgentes ne sont pasprises, solutions de repli graves peuvent survenir dans les Objectifs du Millenaire pour le developpement etablis (OMD) des Nations Unies. Dans le contexte des OMD pertinents, ces solutions de repli peuvent inverser la situation d'un etat precedemment insoutenable. Les subjectivites des parties prenantes et des priorites pour les differents elements de CBDWS ont ete examines et quantifiable incorpores dans le systeme. Les composantes environnementales et institutionnelles sont apparues comme des priorites plus importantes entre les differentes parties prenantes du groupe. La composante environnementale est une priorite plus elevee chez les intervenants en sciences naturelles et en genie milieux, alors que composante institutionn~lle (par rapport aux institutions communautaires) est la priorite pratique pour les parties prenantes avec les sciences sociales milieux. Enfin, pour suivre et evaluer CBDWS, un cadre applique rentable et convivial, mais bien definie et systematique capable de recevoir des donnees de errain avec differents niveaux de qualite a ete developpe

Sustainability of community-based drinking water systems in developing countries

A basic framework for sustainable community-based drinking water systems (CBDWS) is studied in this research program; it is based on the performance of existing water supply systems and on the responses to a survey by the various stakeholders. A model for overall sustainability was developed and validated through its application to about 70 CBDWS in rural settings of northern areas of Pakistan (as part of a developing country case study). In addition, analyses and scenario projections of environmental component of sustainability were made along with detailed analyses and syntheses of statistical surveys to gauge stakeholder perspectives and priorities and to incorporate the results in overall sustainability. The study concluded that sustainable CBDWS can be developed and operated only with active participation of stakeholders (grouped by experience as technical, environmental, economic, social, and institutional). The system must maintain safe and drinkable water resources (environmental considerations) and also maintain the potential for renewability through technically optimized design, high quality execution and regular infrastructure maintenance in an economically beneficial and self-reliant set-up. Social and institutional involvement must also be an integral part of the system. Failure of any of these components can affect the sustainability of the entire system. A relevant definition for sustainable CBDWS was formulated, along with the development of a new model for CBDWS sustainability. The model showed that properly maintained sources, proper infrastructure, aware society, stable economy, and effective institutions are linked components of a sustainable CBDWS, and failure of any of these components can affect the sustainability of the entire system. Scenarios for population that would be without access to improved drinking water in 2015 were also projected on the basis of the field studies. The field studies concluded that environmental sustainability in terms of capacity, quality, reliability and protection of drinking water sources is critical. Projection of these findings to a broader level shows that unless urgent measures are undertaken, serious "fallbacks" may occur in the established Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations. In the context of the relevant MDG, such fallbacks can reverse the situation to a previously unsustainable condition.The stakeholder subjectivities and priorities for the various elements of CBDWS were examined and quantitatively incorporated into the system. The environmental and institutional components appeared as higher priorities among the various group stakeholders. The environmental component is a higher priority among stakeholders with natural sciences and engineering backgrounds, whereas institutional component (related to community institutions) is the foremost priority for stakeholders with social sciences backgrounds. Finally, for monitoring and evaluating CBDWS, a cost-effective and user-friendly applied framework capable of accommodating field data with varying levels of quality was developed.Un cadre de base pour les systèmes d'eau potable communautaires durables (CBDWS) est étudié dans ce programme de recherche, il est basé sur la performance des systèmes d'approvisionnement en eau existantes et sur les réponses à une enquête menée par les différents intervenants. Un modèle de durabilité globale a été développée et validée par son application à environ 70 CBDWS en milieu rural des régions du nord du Pakistan (dans le cadre d'une étude de cas de pays en développement). En outre, les analyses et les projections du scénario de composante environnementale du développement durable ont été faites ainsi que des analyses et des synthèses détaillées des enquêtes statistiques pour évaluer les perspectives et les priorités parties prenantes et d'intégrer les résultats en matière de durabilité globale. L'étude conclut que CBDWS durables peuvent être développés et exploités uniquement avec la participation active des parties prenantes (défini dans l'étude: techniques, environnementales, économiques, sociales et institutionnelles). Le système doit conserver des ressources en eau salubre et potable (considérations environnementales) et aussi de maintenir le potentiel de renouvellement grâce à une conception techniquement optimisé, l'exécution de haute qualité et un entretien régulier de l'infrastructure d'une manière économiquement avantageuse et autonomes set-up. L'engagement social et institutionnel doit également faire partie intégrante du système. Défaillance d'un de ces composants peut affecter la durabilité de l'ensemble du système. Une définition pertinente pour CBDWS durable a été élaboré, avec le développement d'un nouveau modèle de durabilité CBDWS. Le modèle indique que les sources sont bien entretenus, infrastructures adéquates, la société consciente, une économie stable et des institutions efficaces sont des éléments nécessaires et liés d'une CBDWS durables, et l'échec de l'un de ces composants peut affecter la durabilité de l'ensemble du système. Scénarios pour la population qui seraient sans accès à l'eau potable en 2015 ont également été projetées sur la base d'une étude de terrain. L'étude de terrain a conclu que la durabilité de l'environnement en termes de capacité, la qualité, la fiabilité et la protection des sources d'eau potable est essentielle. Projection des conclusions de l'étude sur le terrain à une plus grande échelle montre que si des mesures urgentes ne sont pas prises, solutions de repli graves peuvent survenir dans les Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement établis (OMD) des Nations Unies. Dans le contexte des OMD pertinents, ces solutions de repli peuvent inverser la situation d'un état précédemment insoutenable. Les subjectivités des parties prenantes et des priorités pour les différents éléments de CBDWS ont été examinés et quantifiable incorporés dans le système. Les composantes environnementales et institutionnelles sont apparues comme des priorités plus importantes entre les différentes parties prenantes du groupe. La composante environnementale est une priorité plus élevée chez les intervenants en sciences naturelles et en génie milieux, alors que composante institutionnelle (par rapport aux institutions communautaires) est la priorité pratique pour les parties prenantes avec les sciences sociales milieux. Enfin, pour suivre et évaluer CBDWS, un cadre appliqué rentable et convivial, mais bien définie et systématique capable de recevoir des données de terrain avec différents niveaux de qualité a été développé

Guidelines for the Technical Sustainability Evaluation of the Urban Drinking Water Systems Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process

The challenge of achieving and measuring urban water sustainability is hard because of its complex nature. The sustainability of urban drinking water system (UDWS) is no exception, as integration of technical, environmental, social, economic, and institutional elements of sustainability is defying and perplexing in terms of its application and evaluation. This paper deals with the technical aspects related to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance factors of a UDWS. Measurement of the status of such factors is almost impossible in generic formats. Therefore, a list of measurable sub factors was developed through an extensive literature survey and refined by involving appropriate stakeholders. This led to the development of a hierarchy from criteria to factors and from factors to sub factors, making a case for the utilization of an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for multicriteria analysis (MCA). Appropriate stakeholders were included in this research to address the issues for which there were major gaps in the literature. A set of guidelines were developed for the evaluation of the status of various sub factors in a quantitative format. It is concluded that a trans disciplinary framework, the involvement of stakeholders, and guidelines for adopting appropriate processes and techniques may improve the sustainability of stressed urban water systems

Depression and Anxiety in Health Care Workers during COVID-19

Background and Objective: Pakistan has been sternly affected by COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) since March, 2020. This study was intended to evaluate the mental health among health care workers throughout the epidemic and to sight see the possible influence factors. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey composed of n = 237 self-selected health care workers was conducted. Their demographics, COVID-19 associated knowledge, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were noted. Results: This study received n = 237 responses. A total of (59%) of the participants belonged to age group 20-30 years. Females (56.3%) were more among all of them. Regarding marital status, (44.5%) were unmarried. Out of n = 237 participants, there were (62%) doctors, (34%) nurses and (4%) paramedical staff. Depression and anxiety prevailed in about (34.6%) and (42.2%) of participants respectively. Moderate depression was reported equally by doctors and nurses. Severe anxiety was found in (25%) while borderline anxiety in (17%) of all the participants. Nurses reported more severity in depression while comparing to doctors. Conclusion: Females were slightly more depressed than males and anxiety was more common than depression especially in health workers from Sahiwal. Depression was seen more commonly in married individuals while comparing to singles. Risk of transmission of COVID-19 to family was most stressful for the participants and more than half of them affirmed it.</p