Each Karachi DMC to get Rs10m to ensure cleanliness during Eidul Azha

The Sindh government will disburse a special grant of Rs10 million to each of the district municipal corporations in Karachi to help them make special arrangements for sanitation and provision of other municipal services during the upcoming Eidul Azha holidays.

This was announced by Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Saturday as he chaired a meeting to finalise a strategy to make special sanitation arrangements on the occasion of Eidul Azha. The meeting was attended by the local government secretary, the mayors of Karachi and Hyderabad, the Karachi commissioner, and the chairmen of the DMCs of Central, Korangi, East and West districts.

The minister said directed the officials concerned to involve the elected local government representatives in the system being evolved to dispose of waste of sacrificial animals during Eidul Azha. He said the government would fully support the elected local government representatives in this regard.

Shah added that the government had the intention to act upon a comprehensive and composite strategy in collaboration with the elected local government system so as to provide essential sanitation and municipal services during the religious festival.

Local Government Secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh claimed that special places had been designated in every union council for sacrificing animals on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

He said such a strategy had been adopted so that remains of the waste of the sacrificial animals were not dumped on every street, road, or highway in the city.

He said that special landfill sites had been designated in the city for the disposal of the waste of sacrificial animals, and that the landfill sites outside the city would also be used for the purpose.

Shaikh said a comprehensive strategy had been adopted in consultation with all the stakeholders for the disposal of the waste of sacrificial animals in a timely fashion.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said that launching a sanitation drive before Eidul Azha was a good effort that would create long-lasting results. He said the number of trucks used for carrying the waste of sacrificial animals should be increased.

The minister asked the local government secretary that the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) should constantly maintain liaison with the DMC chairmen for an effective sanitation strategy on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

He asked the managing director of the SSWMB to make special arrangements for quick disposal of the offal of sacrificial animals.

He also asked the Karachi commissioner to direct the deputy commissioner in every district of Karachi to visit areas in their jurisdiction for supervising the sanitation arrangements being adopted there.

The elected local government representatives thanked the minister for convening a joint meeting for holding consultation with the stakeholders on the important issue of sanitation on the occasion of Eidul Azha.