SSWMB to remove offal, DMCs to conduct sprays

On the instructions of local government minister Syed Nasir Shah, the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) and the local bodies have constituted committees on sub-division level in Karachi for removal of offal of the sacrificial animals and conducting insecticide spray during the three days of Eid-ul-Azha.

This decision was taken on Friday in a meeting held by the LG minister in the committee room of the CM House. The meeting was attended by Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shahalwani, LG secretary Roshan Shaikh, SSWMB chief Kashif Gulzar Shaikh, Masood Alam of the KMC and other relevant officers.

The minister said the sub-divisional committees would be monitored by assistant commissioners. “The offal of the animals to be sacrificed during the three days of Eid-ul-Azha at designated places would be lifted by the SSWMB, while the DMCs would conduct anti-flies and insecticide spray in Karachi and other districts of the province.”

The minister said nobody would be allowed to slaughter animals on the road and in the streets. He said the animals would be slaughtered only at the designated areas or within the walled compounds. “In case of violation, action will be taken against the violators.”

The minister directed the SSWMB to remove the offal from religious and other institutions where people carried out the sacrifice of animals collectively.

The SSWMB chief said around 1.079 million tons of offal would be generated and a plan had been devised for their removal. “The SSWMB is operating two landfill sites in the city measuring 500 acres each in Gondpas and Jam Chakro. For proper disposal and discarding of offal, an appropriate mechanism has been adopted; trenches at landfill site have been excavated and the offal collected from all districts would be dumped in the trenches and the trenches would be buried accurately to prevent any hazard to the environment.”

PSP’s collective sacrifice

The Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), through its welfare organisation, namely the PSP Foundation, has made arrangements for collective sacrifice of animals across Pakistan, including Karachi, on Eidul Azha.

A statement issued by the party read that collective sacrifice of animals will be performed all over the country for Allah Almighty following the Sunnah of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS). “In the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus, meat will be distributed among needy families across Pakistan.”

The PSP said that animals continue to arrive at all the party’s centres for mass sacrifice. The statement said that sacrificial animals have also started arriving at the PSP secretariat in Karachi, namely the Pakistan House, which is the main collective sacrifice centre.

500 sites in city

A day earlier, the Sindh government had designated around 500 sites all over Karachi for collectively performing the ritual of sacrificing animals on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

The list of the designated places for sacrificing animals has been issued by the local government department in view of the COVID-19 emergency. The places for sacrificing animals have been designated at the level of union committees and union councils in the city.

The list contains 120 sites in District West, 119 in District Central, 60 in District East, 38 in District Malir, 13 in District South and 210 in the jurisdiction of District Council. Apparently, the list shared with the media does not mention District Korangi.

LG Secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh said that steps had been taken to discourage the trend of sacrificing animals on individual basis on Eidul Azha in accordance with the decision of the NCOC (National Command and Operation Centre).

He said that collective sacrifice would help ensure quick disposal of animal waste as well as cleanliness in the city. He also said that all municipal commissioners posted in the city had been issued directives to ensure sacrifices only at designated sites at union committee and union council level.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani on Wednesday had reviewed the clean-up and offal lifting arrangements that have been made in connection with the religious festival of Eidul Azha.