Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has decided to remove sacrificial animal waste within six hours this year, and more than 10,000 cleaners will be deployed for the task. All DNCC councillors and officials, and the mayor himself, will be in the field. A control room has been set up to monitor waste removal centrally, and a hotline number is available for anyone to call.

DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said this while visiting the Bosila sacrificial animal market in Mohammadpur in the capital on the afternoon of Saturday, 15 June.

He said buyers and sellers are able to transact safely at DNCC's smart cattle markets. This year six markets have digital payment systems, so buyers can pay by credit card, debit card or mobile banking instead of cash. Sellers and farmers can deposit their sale money into a bank account at the market rather than carrying it, and those without an account can open one on the spot.

The mayor said large numbers of buyers and sellers had gathered at the markets, and every arrangement had been made to manage them properly. A monitoring team led by city corporation councillors has been formed and is overseeing the markets, and it takes action when a market is set up by blocking a main road.

Answering a journalist's question, he said waste removal will formally begin at 2pm on Eid day, and all waste will be removed by 8pm. "This time we are not relying on the lease-holders to clean up the market waste. The city corporation itself will clean up quickly," he said.

The mayor said cow dung from the markets will be collected and used for tree planting, as DNCC has already begun an extensive tree-planting programme.

In reply to another question, he said arrangements have been made for at least 500 cattle to be sacrificed together at a field next to Paris Road in Ward 3. DNCC will give Tk 1,000 as an incentive for each animal sacrificed there. An initiative has also been taken for at least 100 animals to be sacrificed at one site in Ward 7.

DNCC Chief Executive Officer Mir Khairul Alam, Secretary Mohammad Masud Alam Siddique and Chief Health Officer Brigadier General Imrul Kayes Chowdhury were among those present during the visit.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.