Solid waste management is a global issue persisting in most of the developing countries like Pakistan. Current study briefly appraises the management and practices of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Bahawalpur city. Data were collected from different sources by using an in-depth interview and questionnaire tool. The findings reveal that domestic organic waste accounts for about 35.32% followed by debris, dirt and construction material waste (30.89%). About 273.69 tons solid waste is generated on daily basis whereas only 218.95 tons per day is collected and disposed. The collection rate of MSW varies from 61% to 80% in the city. The service coverage area was about 70%. The total sanitary staff was also very limited (735) as compared to the increasing population and served only 75% population of the Bahawalpur. The equipment and machinery used for MSW collection and disposal operation were also limited and out of fashion which were needed to be replaced. There is no proper landfill for disposal of solid waste which is openly thrown at five dumping sites and burned. This situation further creates many environmental and health issues. Recycling is almost absent in the city and behavior of the inhabitants also adds to an ineffective solid waste management in the city. It is necessary to create awareness among the people about bad effects of improper dumping of solid waste and the need to tackle this problem.

Cities all over the world, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan, areexperiencing rapid urban growth and changing socio-economic profile. Present study was conducted toinvestigate the trends of urban growth and socio-economic development in Gujranwala, the prominentindustrial city, 5th largest city of the Punjab and 7th amongst the big populous cities of Pakistan. Bymaking comparison of its structure with overall socio-economic structure of the Punjab Province,selected indicators were considered viz. population size, housing facilities and urban growth patterns.Data was obtained from various sources and efforts were made in order to realize the behavior of urbangrowth and socio-economic development. Results revealed that city had better place regarding itseducational, health, housing and human development scenarios. But noticeably, a small proportion ofpopulation could have access to safe drinking water, sanitation etc. The urban growth patternssuggested the increasing urban population due to migration and natural increase of population, thoughoverall growth rate was declining. Resultantly, city was spatially expanding in north, west and eastdirections since 1947 to present.

The main purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate the impacts of industrial noise pollution onhearing of workers in Gujranwala. Noise pollution levels were measured at fifty locations with the help of sound levelmeter, which was placed at a height above 1.2 meters from the ground. Two hundred workers were interviewed throughquestionnaire method. Different statistical tests correlation and chi-square were applied to analyze the noise pollutionlevel in Gujranwala city. Impacts of industrial noise pollution on hearing of workers were shown in different mapsusing interpolation and buffers. The present study concluded that noise pollution levels were exceeding the WHOpermissible limit of noise pollution at all sample locations. Workers of factories were suffering from annoyance,hypertension, irritation, interference with speech communication and sleep disturbance. Thus, it is necessary to possessa hearing discussion program in factories. One of its main parts is education to raise the consciousness of workers aboutnoise risks and techniques of prevention. Lastly, the issues of noise annoyance should be included in all future studieson the usage of hearing protection devices.

As a basic need of human life, the place of safe potable water cannot be ignored elsewhere. Therefore, themain objective of the current study was to take an overview of the main source of water, expenditure on waterpurchasing and use quality of bottled water in Bahawalpur city. Primary data were gathered through a structuredquestionnaire during a field survey in selected five residential areas as sample sites i.e. Model town A, Model town B,Shahdrah, Satellite town, and Islami colony, while the secondary data were collected from PCRWR and a few websources. Data were gathered from 150 respondents (30 from each study site) and analyzed in SPSS 17 software byapplying descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) to get a generalized picture regarding the main source ofwater, use and quality of bottled water in the study area. Findings make it clear that majority of the respondents werefetching water from government filtration plants following the electric pumps. Moreover, various local watercompanies (e.g. Pineo, Piyas, Aquafina, Kinley, Al-Shiffa, Life Water) were also supplying water in the study area.Particularly, the use and demand for bottled water are increasing day by day as people have serious concerns on qualityrelated issues of water. Bottled water was available in different quantities from 0.5 liters to 19 liters with respectiveprices that were purchased from various departmental and medical stores or via home delivery service. But the qualityof the bottled water was not satisfactory and up to the standards. The PCRWR laboratory analysis of bottled watersamples show significant variations and alarmingly different brands i.e. Blue water, Kalash pure water and Pan Purawere found chemically and microbiologically unfit for drinking purposes. So, it is suggested that regular monitoringand quality control steps by local government in the private sector would ensure the effective and secure potable waterdeliverance.

Urban expansion and unparalleled rural to urban conversion, along with an enormous population growth areinfluential forces changing land use in metropolitan areas. The current work determined temporal and spatial alterationin built-up area, agriculture land, barren land and water area by using Landsat imageries of Faisalabad city from 2003to 2017.The supervised classification technique has been performed on all the images to produce the land use changemaps using the maximum likelihood algorithm and accuracy assessment of the classification has been performed. It hasbeen concluded maximum increase of built-up land were from 30% in 2003 to 50% in 2017 whereas the maximumdecrease in agriculture land class has been observed from 36% of 2003 to 10% in 2017. Urban population of Faisalabadcity has increased from 2 million in 1998 to population statistics reached up to 3.2 million in 2017. Faisalabad 3rdlargest city of Pakistan facing lot of issues due to urban expansion, analyzing the reasons and penalties of land usechanges facilitate local government and urban planners for the better management of future plans regarding the urbansettlements and reduce the negative consequences.