52,000 tonnes of animal waste cleared from Dhaka over three days during Eid

The two Dhaka city corporations have cleaned up a total of 52,000 tonnes of sacrificial animal waste over the three days of Eid-ul-Azha.

While the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) officially announced the end of its waste clean-up operations on Monday, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) said it would continue the drive for two more days.

Immediately after the morning prayers, animal sacrifices and meat processing began in the alleys and streets of the capital on Eid day, which was Saturday.

Shortly before noon, workers from both city corporations launched drivers to remove the waste accumulated from the roads due to the slaughterings.

That afternoon, after officially inaugurating the clean-up campaign, Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain expressed hope that the waste from the first day would be cleared within the 12-hour target set by the city corporations.

During Eid-ul-Azha, people sacrifice animals for up to three days, including the Eid day.

DSCC CLEAN-UP EFFORTS ENDS

The DSCC officially announced the conclusion of its waste removal operations.

The agency’s Administrator Shahjahan Mia made the announcement in a media briefing held in the afternoon at the WASA building in Dhaka, according to a press release.

On the first and second days of Eid-ul-Azha, 100 percent of sacrificial animal waste was removed from all 75 wards under DSCC. By 2:45pm on the third day, all the waste had also been removed from all 75 wards, the administrator said.

“A total of 31,226 tonnes of waste had been removed by 2:45pm on the third day. This year’s target was 30,000 tonnes. That means more waste was removed than the target — and ahead of schedule."

The bamboo poles, floating and scattered waste from DSCC’s eight temporary livestock markets have already been cleared. The administrator noted that the final cleanup of the cattle market waste nears its end.

A total of 166,754 animals were sacrificed during this year’s Eid-ul-Azha within the Dhaka South zones, including 133,317 on the first day, 31,745 on the second day and 1,692 on the third day, across all 75 wards, Shahjahan said.

A total of 12,853 sanitation workers were engaged in DSCC’s waste management operation. Additionally, 2,079 vehicles of varying sizes and 344 pieces of equipment were used.

As part of the Eid waste management campaign, approximately 45 tonnes of bleaching powder, 207 gallons (each gallon 5 litres) and 140,000 biodegradable bags were distributed among city residents, as detailed in the briefing.

The administrator extended his thanks to all sanitation workers and waste management staff for completing the waste removal efforts ahead of schedule despite intermittent showers.

TWO MORE DAYS TO CLEAN UP DHAKA NORTH

The DNCC announced that clean-up operations will continue for an additional two days following its removal of 20,889 tonnes of sacrificial animal waste from the northern part of the capital over the first three days of Eid-ul-Azha.

Although the initial plan was to conclude the operations on Monday, the third day of Eid, DNCC Administrator Mohammad Ejaz said the campaign will now stretch into Tuesday and Wednesday.

At a press conference at the DNCC office in Gulshan-2 in the afternoon, he said a total of 466,080 animals were sacrificed in the Dhaka North city this year, including 359,000 animals, over 100,000 goats, 4,000 sheep and 1,762 buffaloes.

The administrator said, "Before the first day, we estimated around 20,000 tons of waste would be generated. As of 2pm on Monday, we have managed to collect and dump 20,889 tonnes at the landfill.”

Noting that waste is still being generated, he added: "Some sacrifices will take place this afternoon as well. We’ll collect this waste too.

“We had initially planned to officially conclude the waste collection today, but we’ve decided to continue without making that announcement yet."