Twin cities cleaned up as sacrifices conclude

Sanitation services remove thousands of tonnes of offal, animal waste

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD:

The municipal agencies of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi continued their cleanliness operations on Monday, the third day of Eidul Azha, as some people performed the ritual sacrifice in remembrance of the great divine sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and Hazrat Ismael (AS).

Even though the official three-day Eid holidays ended on Monday, attendance was thin in the offices that reopened.

Cleanliness drive

In Islamabad, the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) launched a special cleanness drive on Monday to clear the city of waste from sacrificial animals. IMC Sanitation Director Sardar Khan Zamri asserted that waste of over 10,000 tonnes was removed from the federal capital during the Eid holidays.

Workers of the Sanitation Directorate collected and disposed of offals, entrails and other waste material during a special operation

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The Sanitation director told the media that a cleanliness operation had been launched on the eve of Eidul Azha which continued on Monday. The initiative, he said, had been planned to ensure a clean and hygienic festival and to ensure that people of other faiths do not have to face any problems while commuting around the city.

Special field teams removed garbage from all key areas around the city in addition to their daily cleaning routines to keep the federal capital clean.

The sanitation official said that the civic agency had divided the city into different zones for implementing a cleanliness campaign during Eidul Azha. Moreover, banners on maintaining cleanliness were put up at various locations across the city to create awareness for the masses.

In Rawalpindi, the Waste Management Company (RWMC) claimed that it had removed 9,000 tonnes of animal waste from the city during the three days of Eidul Azha. Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Umar Farooq said that they removed over 2,500 tonnes of offal and entrails from the cantonment areas.

An RWMC spokesperson said that they had deputed 3,557 sanitary workers along with 412 vehicles. The spokesperson said that drivers and loaders shifted animal waste onto trucks which brought it to the transfer station from where it was shifted to a landfill aboard dumpers.

He said that RWMC Managing Director Manzoor Tarrar along with other RWMC officials visited several areas of the city and supervised the entire operation.

Moreover, the spokesperson said that Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Capt (retired) Anwarul Haq also visited the city and inspected the state of cleanliness work. He said that they also used handcarts to remove garbage and offal from the city areas.

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Six complaint centres were also established for the public to lodge complaints. After completing the cleanliness task and removing offal, all collection points and other areas were sprayed, he added.

Meanwhile, district officials said that they received some 381 complaints about uncollected garbage and other municipal issues, including from Adyala Road, Union Council (UC) Dhaman Syedan etc. District officials said that they were able to resolve a vast majority of complaints, 379 of them.

Meanwhile, RCB Spokesperson Qasier Mehmood said that they had received over 600 complaints at their control room during the first two days of Eidul Azha.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2020.