Eid-ul-Adha or “Qurbani” is an important religious event for the Muslim Ummah. The word qurbani refers to sacrifice.
While most of us are fascinated by the joy of Eid, we forget about cleanliness. As a passage in a Hadith goes, “Cleanliness is half of faith” - Sahih Muslim: 223.
In almost all developed countries, the whole procedure of Qurbani is much easier and environment-friendly. To perform the rituals, one must take the purchased livestock to a specific location for slaughter. Then the meat and bone that is edible are given to people and the carcass is sent to the dumping area or for reuse. This aids in keeping the environment safe and the meat disease-free.
In our country the situation is horrifying with regard to the unhygienic handling of meat and excretion, improper management of the skin, and remaining feed of the animals. On the first day of Eid-ul-Adha, the roads in Dhaka look to be painted red because there is so much blood; bones, horns, heads, and the blood-soaked mats are thrown on the roads or in the drains. All of these lead to numerous problems. What causes more complications is that they are all connected to each other. There is a ridiculously foul smell everywhere due to the clotted blood mixing with the air and causing some serious health hazards.
With a little sensibility, management, and alterations, we can turn the trash into treasure. Livestock excrete can be used as food for fish and the blood which is high in protein can be used as fodder. Similarly, the bones can act as a fertilizer or to feed poultry. The bones, teeth, and horns can be used to make numerous things.
According to a seminar in Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA) in terms of size, around 15 to 25 kilograms of leftover bones are there in one cow. These hold a great demand in the international market such as China and Thailand. POBA also mentioned that the present market price of the bones of cows bought in Eid-ul-Adha will be around Tk65 crore. In addition to that, the amount for the bones of cows slaughtered throughout the year will be around TK140cr. The City Corporation could make a lot of money simply by separating and collecting the horns and bones thrown at the landfill site each year. Introduction of new policies and terms which may include giving contracts to a third party to manage these tasks may also help.
We can get rid of the waste by creating a dumping site on our own, in a village area, or on any open site. This will prevent the spreading of the foul smell and the infestation of mosquitoes leading to infections and diseases. In previous years, initiatives were taken where the Dhaka South City Corporation and the North City Corporation determined a few sites where livestock could be slaughtered on Eid-ul-Adha. Due to a lack of opportunity and enough campaigning, people did not participate very spontaneously last year. Despite the City Corporations’ attempt to help prevent waste, there has been no such improvement in waste management.
Eid is celebrated by almost everyone in our country. During Eid-ul-Adha, most of the cleaners of City Corporation go to villages to visit their home, and there are not many people to handle their work. This leads to more waste and garbage lying in the cities. The authorities, in this case, should appoint part-time cleaners and introduce modern machinery which can help remove the trash quickly.
Keeping the environment clean is a responsibility and necessity for all of us.
However, local government leaders are hopeful that animal waste will be properly managed in 2022. Regarding the Qurbani waste management this year, Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that 8,200 workers will be engaged in cleaning work in Dhaka South City Corporation using 350 vehicles. On the other hand, Mayor Atiqul Islam said that 9,900 cleaners will be in charge of cleaning Dhaka North City Corporation using 538 vehicles. He further said that 1 lakh biodegradable bags and 5 lakh polybags will be provided to citizens on behalf of Dhaka North City Corporation.
In previous years, people were not willing to slaughter livestock in pre-defined places determined by the city corporations because there was no way to enforce them to do that. This year, there will be seven experimental places in Mirpur; people will not be able to slaughter livestock elsewhere except in certain places. “If necessary, we will deliver the meat to your house by car,” said the mayor. On behalf of Dhaka South City Corporation, 10 teams have been formed to supervise the activities related to the removal and management of waste in the field.
The leather traders will also get a touch of the improvement in the communication system of the country with the inauguration of the Padma Bridge on June 25. Raw leather from the southwestern region will be able to reach Dhaka tanneries much faster than previous years.
The health (water quality) of the river should also not be forgotten. During Eid, the livestock waste flows into the river through all drains of Dhaka city and the leather processing industry also adds to the water pollution during this time. Since the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) located in the tannery industry area at Hemayetpur in Savar has less capacity than the demand of the effluent discharge of tanneries, the tannery owners will be requested to operate their own ETPs 24 hours a day. If necessary, keep the raw leather in the warehouse and process them slowly by synchronizing with the capacity of CETP. The role of the Ministry of Industry and Bangladesh Tanners Association is paramount in this regard.
Special techniques must be taken in flooded areas. Flood-affected areas are prone to waterborne diseases, with food and medicine shortages exacerbating the situation. In flooded areas, slaughtering should be done in highland and dry areas. We should be very careful about waste and animal leftovers management; it should not spread, especially in the water. Waste can be dumped in holes in highland or dry soil areas and covered with soil to reduce contamination. If it is not possible to do this in the flooded areas, we can store the waste in polybags and dump it in non-flooded areas.
Everyone is hopeful that the countrymen who are facing various environmental disasters will be able to celebrate Eid with cleanliness in the glory of sacrifice.
Professor Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder is Dean, Faculty of Science, Chairman, Department of Environmental Science, Stamford University Bangladesh. Joint Secretary, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA). Founder & Chariman, Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS).
