The two Dhaka city corporations have taken massive preparations to carry out special drives to clean cattle wastes from the capital within 48 hours of slaughtering of sacrificial animals on the day of Eid-ul-Azha on Wednesday, according to officials. The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) have appointed about 18,000 cleaners and would utilise modern and heavy equipment to dispose of the wastes on the Eid day. Officials of DSCC and DNCC estimate that about 700,000 cattle might be slaughtered by the people in Dhaka this year on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, generating about 35,000 tonnes of waste. The corporations will set up about 100 extra containers in different parts of the city for keeping wastes at a nearer place. The authorities have cancelled Eid holidays of all officials and employees of waste management and other departments to make the special drive a success.
DSCC’s chief waste management officer Capt. Javed Iqbal told The Independent that DSCC would deploy 9,200 workers to clean the city immediately after slaughtering of the sacrificial animals.
“In addition to our 5,200 regular workers, 4,000 more workers have been hired for the work,” he said.
The official also said the DSCC has hired additional heavy equipment from different institutions to expedite the cleaning drive.
The DSCC would utilise 28 dumpers, seven pay loaders, five dodgers, 10 water-carrying trucks, trailers and prime movers to clean the garbage. Besides, water trucks of the Dhaka WASA, the Fire Brigade and the Navy would wash the streets, lanes and by-lanes, he said.
Javed Iqbal said a control room would be opened to assist the cleaning activities. Besides, there would be monitoring cells in each of the 10 cattle markets under the DSCC to oversee the activities.
“Our target is to complete the disposal of waste within 48 hours of Eid. A total of 70 DSCC officials will supervise the waste management activities,” he added.
He said savlon, dettol and bleaching powder would be used to remove the odour of wastes.
The DSCC official estimated that about 500,000 cattle might be slaughtered on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, generating about 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes of waste.
He said they would arrange awareness programmes and distribute polythene bags among the people to keep the wastes in those bags on the Eid day.
Javed Iqbal said they have taken measures to smoothly dump the wastes at the Matuail sanitary land fill.
The chief waste management officer of DNCC, Capt. Bipan Kumar Saha, said that they have taken necessary steps to clean their part of Dhaka city within 48 hours as in the previous year. He also said about 7,900 workers, including 3,200 primary cleaner service providers, would collect the wastes within 48 hours starting from the
Eid day. According to him, about two lakh cattle would be slaughtered this year, generating around 14,000 tonnes of waste. The DNCC official said they would sale 70,000 poly bags to the cattle buyers at a cost of Tk. 20 per bag at the 10 cattle markets under the DNCC. Besides, 20,000 more poly bags will be distributed among the city dwellers to ensure better waste management, he added.
He further said they had introduced poly bags from the last year for better waste management. An 11-member team, led by a superintending engineer, will supervise the waste management activities. The DNCC will use 125 trucks, 16 dumpers, seven water carrying vehicles, four prime movers, four chain excavators and five pay loaders, he said.
The waste will be dumped at the Amin Bazar land fill, he added. The DNCC has opened a control room to provide information on collecting animal wastes. The telephone numbers of the control rooms are: 9856709 and 9858006.
The DNCC official claimed that the measure taken this time is the best in last 10 years.
-With The Independent input
