Dhaka: Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) removed most of the waste of sacrificial animals by Saturday evening as the cleaning workers were wiping out the trash from Friday afternoon.  

Both the city corporations deployed around 13,000 cleaning workers to remove around 45,000 tonnes of wastes, produced in the capital, within 48 hours.

Besides, they also distributed 4 lakh biodegradable bags among the city dwellers free of cost through local ward councillors so that its cleaning staff can easily and quickly collect leftovers of slaughtered animals and remove those.

Even, the city corporations for the first time this year designated 532 spots across the capital for slaughtering animals during Eid-ul-Azha to check pollution caused by waste and leftovers of sacrificial animals. Among them, 324 spots had been in DSCC while 208 in the DNCC area.

Sources at the DNCC and DSCC said only 10 percent city dwellers used the designated places for sacrificing their animals, while 50 percent of polythene bags were used by them in keeping animals’ waste.  

Askek Mahmud who lives in Wapda Road near Mohanagar project of Rampura slaughtered his cow in the garage of his building instead of going to the designated place.

When asked why he did not use the specific spot for slaughtering the animal, he told UNB that it seemed to him that the big trouble while using the designated place would be bringing meat to his residence. Moreover, he had better arrangement for slaughtering his animal inside his garage, Mahmud said, adding: ‘We washed out the blood and other waste from our own by splashing water right after processing the meat.’

A resident of Green road area, Aminul Islam, said for the first time he had seen people washing blood with water and bleaching powder right after slaughtering their animals. ‘I think following initiative of city corporations, people became more aware about removing waste voluntarily and swiftly,’ he added.

Emrul Hasan who lives in West Basabo also slaughtered his cow on the road in front his house to avoid extra hassle of carrying meat from Basabo playground fixed by Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).

He said, ‘Four cows were sacrificed in front of my house while all the cow owners agreed to wash out the blood by splashing water after slaughtering. We also put bleaching powder on the place.’

Abdullah Yusuf Kajal of Mirpur-12 said it had been quite impossible to walk on the road with family members in the afternoon of Eid day due to blood, animal leftovers and bad smell. ‘But for the first time the roads are looking clean and less stinky than previous years as many of the city dwellers washed out their animal waste from their own,’ he said.

‘I hope people will be more aware from the next year about disposing of slaughtering waste to keep the city roads clean,’ he added.

Contacted, chief waste management officer of DNCC Captain Bipun Kumar Saha said only 10 percent people used their allocated places for sacrificing animals. Besides, around 50 percent of the polythene sacks they provided were used by the city people in putting animals’ waste, he added.

‘We’re satisfied that at least the city dwellers started using selected places as well as polythene sacks as part of waste management of the city corporations,’ the DNCC official added.

He also said they will accomplish the job in a more organised way from the next year to keep the city clean.