Rawalpindi lanes still littered with animal waste

The Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) post-Eidul Azha cleanliness drive skipped most areas in the old city; but the posh residential and commercial districts were cleaned. Areas in old city especially reeked with the foul smell of decomposed innards of the sacrificial animals despite the cleanliness drive.

Although the RWMC officials expressed their satisfaction at the cleanliness drive but the lanes at Murree Road were not cleaned and a number of city areas remained out of the purview of the drive. One RWMC official, Kashif Reza, said: “We have taken a two-day cleanliness drive with a special team of hundreds of cleaners in addition to regular staff.”

“Of course, RWMC staff began working on the very first day of Eid. But their cleaning team did not spray water mixed with fragrance and antiseptic after picking up the waste. City residents themselves washed the blood with bleaching powder,” said Raziq Ali from Dhoke Syedan.

Fazal-e-Moula, an RWMC official talked of the corporation's limitations, saying that their manpower was not sufficient to clean the city properly. “About thousands of tons of waste is generated in the city during the Eid days,” he said and added by saying, “Waste crossed the limit set by the last year’s Eidul Azha. With the existing staff it is difficult to do the job quickly.”

Residents in old city said although the RWMC's cleaning crew had been busy cleaning the city, their initiatives in their areas were not satisfactory. Haider Ali, a resident of Bagh Sardaran, complained that there were no cleaning drives in the lanes. Blood and refuse are still piled up there with no initiative from the RWMC to clean them. The refuse is not only emitting bad odour, but also posing an increased threat to public health, some said.

Makeshift cattle markets at Dhoke Syedan, Tench Bhatta Road, Chungi no. 22, Choohr Chowk, Bagh Sardaran, Asghar Mall Road, Asghar Mall Scheme, Saidpur Road, Marir Pul, Saddar area, Eidgah Road, Bakramandi, Koral Chowk, Khanna Pul and Faizabad intersection still remain dirty because of relaxed attitude of the RWMC crew. Condition of some of the unauthorized makeshift markets is even worse than that of the authorized markets, because of the inattention of the authorities concerned.

Hamid Hasan from Iqbal Road says: “On Eid day when I decided to visit one of my friends who lived in Dhoke Khabba, outside my house, I saw that someone had put the remains of sacrificial animals just alongside the wall. The remains consisted of small and large intestines of a goat. But when I reached Dhoke Khabba, I saw dozens of such remains placed just outside every house. It became almost impossible for me to step in that street.”

Lutf-e-Ali, the Hamid Hasan’s friend said: “It is nothing new in our area. Each year on Eidul Azha people litter the streets with the remains of sacrificial animals. Days would pass before anyone from RWMC would come to dispose them off.”

“Even in the absence of RWMC staff the least people could do was to properly dispose of the useless parts of animals. But no one in the neighbourhood cared for the unhygienic conditions and the smell caused by the garbage outside their homes,” lamented Nargis Zaidi, a housewife from the neighbouring area.

“I am really surprised why there is no civic sense among the residents of the city and their attitude towards their surroundings is a real shock to me, adds Nargis.