Landfill sites selection through analytical hierarchy process for twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Identification of suitable landfill sites for the sake of public health is a critical issue which has been addressed in the present study. Sites that are far away from settlements minimize public health problems. In the present study, suitable landfill sites with minimum hazards for environment and public health for Islamabad and Rawalpindi city of Pakistan were identified through analytical hierarchy process, which is a useful technique for the identification of suitable landfill sites with minimum influence on environment, ecology, economy and public health. Afterward, least cost path analysis in GIS was chosen for selection of most suitable landfill site. The environmental (groundwater, surface water, vegetation, soil type and environmental sensitive areas), social (roads, slope) and economic (settlements, airports, railways) factors were taken into consideration and were prioritized with pair-wise comparison and weighted sum analysis. Initially twelve sites were found very highly suitable for landfill site. After ground truthing, seven sites were identified as very highly suitable with total area of 1108 ha complied with prerequisite factors for locating landfill site. Latter least cost path analysis led to identification of four most suitable sites for landfill site. The proposed landfill sites have been sited with maximum accuracy in order to help management authorities to select the more suitable areas and so helping the decision makers in solving waste management problems with minimum pollution and public health risks.