Cleaning up: Sanitation workers to be on call round-the-clock

Leaves of 800 workers in Bahawalpur have been cancelled

BAHAWALPUR: Bahawalpur Waste Management Company workers will wear special masks, gloves and shoes as safety gear while picking up offal of sacrificial animals, BWMC Secretary Azam Khan Kanju told journalists on Monday.

He discussed the BWMC’s plans to ensure cleanliness in the district during Eidul Azha holidays. “Workers will have to move fast to remove offal and waste before it starts to smell.” He said the BWMC was prepared for the challenge.

The waste management company has 90 garbage trucks at its disposal and has made arrangements to rent additional vehicles for Eidul Azha cleanliness operations, he said.

He said workers had gone door-to-door distributing 60,000 free plastic bags and 250,000 awareness pamphlets ahead of Eidul Azha days. Five awareness camps have been set up at prominent places and cattle markets in the city. Imams at mosques have also been asked to deliver lectures on cleanliness to the community.

Kanju said 800 of the waste management company’s officials and sanitary staff will not have days off on Eidul Azha and would observe their duties. The company’s office will remain open round-the-clock for citizens to call in with any complaints. He said that the BWMC had set up a control room to monitor cleanliness operations on the three days of Eidul Azha.

He urged people to call up the BWMC helpline at 1139 at any time of the day. “We will make sure your complaints are registered and handled promptly.”

He said workers had been given 100 android mobiles to keep track of cleanliness operations in various areas of the district on Eidul Azha.

Separately, Multan DCO Nadir Chattha has directed the Solid Waste Management Company to appoint additional staff at all union councils to dispose of animal waste. Chattha has also constituted a squad of eight district officers who will monitor the situation in Multan during three days of Eid. “No negligence will be tolerated in this regard…if heaps of animal waste are found anywhere in the city, we will take strict action against the relevant officers,” Chattha said.

The DCO also ordered the town administration to launch a crackdown against illegal cattle markets in the city.

As many as 0.15 million polyethylene bags have been distributed in the city, he said. Workers of the district government and the Solid Waste Management Company went door-to-door distributing bags for disposal of offal, he said.

Sanitation workers have been told to collect offal and waste and dump them at designated spots and trash receptacles outside the city, he said. “These measures have been taken to stop the spread of Congo virus.”

The DCO said there would be a garbage disposal van, handheld carts and trash containers for every union council. He urged citizens to keep the city clean and to cooperate with the district government in this regard. The district government has also banned burning of trotters to prevent environmental pollution.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2016.