Eat your meat, but don't leave the waste out

Eid ul Adha is just around the corner, in the second half of June. This is the occasion of sacrificing our inner demons in the name of the Almighty. We sacrifice cattles, but unfortunately, for many years now, we have also been sacrificing our area's cleanliness during this eid.

According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh, this year, the maximum possible demand for sacrificial animals is 10,702,393. 

"After the sacrificial ceremony and processing the meat, we tend to throw the remains out in the environment. These eventually rot and pollute the surrounding soil, air and water bodies," said Alamgir Kabir, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan (BAPA).

And it is not just the authorities who are to blame for this surmountable waste; individuals are also responsible to some degree.  

According to the information provided by the Dhaka North City Corporation, the area produces 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of waste every day — a number which more than doubles during the Eid-ul-Adha. And the same goes for Dhaka South as well. 

To handle this situation, city corporations, municipalities, union parishads and other local government bodies are instructed to remove the waste immediately. 

"We have prepared transportation like backhoe loader, payloader, drum truck etc., to collect the waste. Also we are renting four pick-up trucks for every ward in Dhaka North. Three people will be in each pick-up to collect the waste from the front of homes," said Dhaka North Chief Waste Management Officer Captain Mohammad Fida Hasan. 

Also the city corporations are informing the Imams and Muezzins of the mosques so that they spread awareness about the cleanliness process to the people at the Jummah before Eid. 

The two city corporations are planning to collect the waste from the cattle markets as well.

After collecting the waste, the corporations will transfer those to the secondary transfer stations and from there, they are planning to send it to the landfill in Amin Bazar. 

"Unfortunately, we have no other options but to dump it there. However we are following the proper rules regarding the dumping station, as per the Solid Waste Management Rules 2021," Fida Hasan said.  

Alamgir Kabir thinks the waste that is produced during Eid-ul-Adha could have been a great resource if processed and managed properly. "The dung could be turned into organic fertiliser if we could collect those centrally. Also, the caracasses and the blood, when buried in the soil properly, can make the soil rich with nutrients," he said. 

Finally if the citizens cooperate and follow the procedures, they too can play an integral role in waste management during this festival.

According to the city corporation waste management officers and environment workers, here are some of the rules that you can follow to keep your spaces clean after Qurbani. 

Those who perform the Qurbani in their own homes or lawns should clean up the waste as soon as possible. Keep hose pipes, brooms, wipers and mops ready to wash off all stains before they dry up. Make sure the water flows into the drain inside your boundary wall and not onto the street, where it can collect and create a cesspool of bloody water, which is an extremely unhygienic health hazard.

Qurbani can be performed at a communal ground in the neighbourhood instead of individually on the road. This also facilitates the collective removal of waste from specific areas.

The dung and excrement should be bagged and disposed of in a designated place such as the nearest dustbin or container instead of being thrown in the open. From there, the responsible authorities can easily remove the waste. 

If you are in a village and have enough open space around you, dig a big hole away from the habitat and bury the entrails with heaps of soil layers. Eventually, this will decompose and turn into organic fertiliser that will nourish the surrounding plants and soil.

Do not wash away the blood and other liquid waste into the drain or the nearest water body. This can pollute the water, and destroy the ecosystem. Instead collect it and then transfer it into buckets. Dilute it (one part blood to nine parts water) and use it as an iron/mineral rich liquid fertiliser, especially for trees, shrubs and roses. 

Do not add any blood/entrails to the compost bin as this would attract vermin of all kinds. 

After sacrifice at the place of slaughter, the blood of the animal should be washed with disinfectant water and bleach should be sprinkled so that mosquitoes can not lay eggs in smelly or stagnant water.

For local governments 

Decide on a catchment area in a way so that every ward or union can reach it. 

Do not choose a playground of educational institutes for animal sacrifice.