Hope to clean Eid waste from all of Dhaka by tonight, says Advisor Asif Mahmud

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, advisor to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, has reiterated the city corporations’ 12-hour deadline to remove waste from Eid-ul-Azha sacrifices.

He said, “The two city corporations in Dhaka have taken up the challenge of cleaning up within 12 hours. We hope that the city corporations’ efforts to clean up all of Dhaka by tonight will be completed.”

He made the remarks while visiting the secondary transfer station (STS) of the Southern City Corporation adjacent to the Kalabagan Shishu Park in Dhaka at 1:45pm on Saturday to inspect the rapid removal of sacrificial waste, according to bdnews24.com report.

Advisor Asif Mahmud said, “Cleaning up the waste generated in cities, especially after the sacrifices, poses a big challenge. Because, if it is not cleaned promptly, it can cause a foul smell and many types of diseases.

“You can already see that the waste is being taken out by loading it into various vehicles. I hope that the Eid joy for the people of Dhaka will not be spoiled in any way due to this waste.”

Despite calls to conduct Eid sacrifices at designated places, city residents have not responded. Asked if there is a lack of monitoring by the city corporations in this regard and whether this will delay the removal of waste, the advisor said: “It is sad. We expect our citizens to follow the rules and if the sacrifices were offered at the designated places, it would have been very easy for us to clean up.

“However, our South City Corporation has about 10,000 cleaning workers. We believe that even if there is some deviation from the recommendations, we will be able to complete the cleaning within this time.”

He also said that the scheduled 12-hour waste removal period started around 10-11am.

Previously, Dhaka South City Administrator Shahjahan Mia had said: “Our waste management work will start in the afternoon on Eid. We commit to cleaning up the sacrifice waste within 12 hours.”

About 700,000 animals may be sacrificed in the capital this year, generating about 50,000 tonnes of waste. Accordingly, the two city corporations of Dhaka have taken up the challenge of removing the waste as soon as possible.

Authorities say 20,267 sanitation workers will be engaged in this work. Their Eid leave has already been cancelled.

About 1.39 million plastic, polythene bags and biodegradable bags have been distributed by the two city corporations to remove waste quickly and on time. In addition, a hotline will be kept open so that citizens can provide information related to waste.