Inspite of so many awareness campaigns , residents in Dubai are still disposing their waste carelessly at least on Dubai Creek.

Almost two tonnes of rubbish is retrieved from Dubai Creek every day, As per Dubai Municipality ,  it collected around 1,160 tonnes of debris from the 7 km Dubai Creek in 2014.The daily average amount removed is between 1.5 and two tonnes. To cater to this massive waste , Dubai Municipality  has launched  four new 45ft-long waste collection boats to clean the Dubai waterways, with a capacity of three tonnes each. Already 7 boats are being used for this purpose. With the launch of 4 news boats , total 11 boats would be on job to clear the garbage from Dubai Creek.

The boats include those for collecting large waste , small waste and containing oil spills. Boats have belts partially immersed in the water , which roll back in like conveyor belts , carrying along any waste caught on them.

One boat is 45 feet long with a load capacity of 3 tonnes while another is 50 feet long with 7 tonne capacity for large floating waste. There is also a vessel that can patrol the coastline and the Creek with equipment and barriers to contain oil spills. For smaller waste and smaller sites , there is an 18 footer with 1 tonne capacity.

If people carry garbage bags with them and put garbage only in that , it will not make the creek dirty and won?t waste so many resources to clean this heap of garbage. Imagine the amount of money Dubai Municipality is spending to deploy 11 boats for clearing creek garbage. That money could have been put to much better use , had the sense of responsibility prevailed in the minds of creek visitors.

The waterway is Dubai's only major inlet from the Arabian Sea and is vital to it?s commercial , cultural and social activites.

Over the last five years, the municipality has improved its marine fleet to clean up the famous Dubai Creek, which it has requested be listed as World Heritage Site.

Dubai Municipality reportedly oversees nine marine sites for unloading waste in the emirate.

Conserving the environment and keeping it clean is one of the top priorities of the Dubai Municipality. There are littering fines applicable e.g.  littering in the Creek is a punishable offence with fines of AED500 attached. Meanwhile oil leakages in waterways are punishable by a AED3,000 fine. Still people don't mind their waste.

Source: Arabian Business , Gulf News