Md Shafiqul Islam Khan, administrator of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), has said that 18,344 tonnes of waste had been taken to landfill by the third day of the 72-hour action plan for removing Qurbani waste.

He gave the figure at a press conference on Saturday, 30 May, held to report the latest progress of the DNCC's waste removal work.

The administrator said that on the first day of Eid, 28 May, there were 1,882 trips carrying 8,076.48 tonnes of waste. On 29 May, the day after Eid, there were 1,583 trips and 6,714.03 tonnes of waste. On the third day of Eid, 30 May, there had been 827 trips and 3,553 tonnes of waste up to 6pm.

Up to 6pm on the third day of Eid, he said, a total of 18,344 tonnes of waste had been taken to landfill by dump truck from various neighbourhoods and secondary transfer stations (STS) over the three days. Animals were still being sacrificed in various places, and that waste would be brought to the STS and taken to landfill overnight.

"We said earlier that we had drawn up a 72-hour action plan to remove sacrificial animal waste. Work is going on according to that plan," he said.

The DNCC administrator said that on the occasion of the 45th death anniversary of martyred President Ziaur Rahman that day, the Prime Minister had visited various areas of Dhaka North City Corporation, and he had accompanied the visit. At the same time, the chief waste management officer and other officials concerned supervised the work round the clock.

Thanking city residents, journalists and DNCC officers and staff, he said that with their cooperation the DNCC had been able to remove waste from its area more or less. "Our commitment is to keep the DNCC clean and green," he said.

He also said waste scattered in various areas had been removed on the basis of media reports.

Outlining progress in cleaning the cattle markets, the administrator said four markets had already been cleaned: Eastern Housing in Mirpur, Sanarpar Uttarkhan, Dhaka Polytechnic and the Jamuna ground in the 300 Feet area. Work was under way at the remaining six, which would also be cleaned soon.

Calling some information circulating on social media about the metro rail "baseless", he said some AI-generated images had been spread on social media in various ways to damage the image of the government and the DNCC. They claimed the railings beside the metro rail had been broken or lifts put out of action. This information was completely untrue, he said.

Answering a question at the press conference about the temporary suspension of two officials, the administrator said the DNCC had 752 vehicles running. A small number broke down in some places, but arrangements were made from elsewhere to keep things going. There was some waste on the road the Prime Minister travelled along, but it was household waste, not Qurbani waste. For this reason the two officials concerned had been temporarily suspended, and a final decision would be taken later.

On dengue and mosquito control, he said visible anti-mosquito activities would begin from the following morning and would continue under the leadership of the health department.

Answering a question about the delay in cleaning the markets, he said a big operation could take some time. Markets that took seven or eight days to build would also take some time to remove and clean, but the work was continuing.

Seeking city residents' cooperation, the administrator said: "This city belongs to everyone. Keeping it clean and green is the responsibility of all of us."

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