Prof. Dr. Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder :
In almost all of the developed countries, the whole procedure of the Qurbani is much easier and environment-friendly. To do the rituals one must take the purchased livestock to a specific location and then perform the slaughter there only. Then the meat and bone that is eatable are given to people and the remaining part of the livestock 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. 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-Azha, the roads in Dhaka look to be painted red because there is so much blood running down from everywhere. Not only do the groins, but also bones, horns, heads, blood-soaked mats, etc. are thrown on the roadside or in drains. All of these lead to numerous problems and what causes more complications is that they are all connected to each other. Like the rest of Bangladesh, our capital also goes through the same problems and more. There is a ridiculously foul smell everywhere due to the clotted blood mixing with the air around and causing some serious health hazards. Many of us even throw the blood-soaked mat and the animal waste into the drains, leading the drainage system to get clogged.
With a little sensibility, management and alterations we can turn the trash into treasure. Many of us throw away the groins of the livestock; however, if it is cleaned thoroughly and cooked properly we can eat them too. Livestock excrete can be used as food for fish and the blood which is high in protein can be used as fodder. Similarly, the bone can act as a fertilizer to feed poultry. The bones, teeth, and horns can be used to make utensils, buttons, furniture, medicine, etc. 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 as such in China and Thailand. POBA also mentioned that the present market price of the bones of cows bought in Eid-ul-Azha will be around 65 crore taka. In addition to that, the amount for the bones of cows slaughtered throughout the year will be around 140 crore taka. 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. All the waste, from the ‘Qurbani’ animal’s leftover feet to head, horns, and blood can be dumped there and covered with soil on top. This will prevent the spreading of the foul smell and the infestation of mosquitoes and thus infections and diseases. In previous years, Dhaka South City Corporation and the North City Corporation determined a few sites where livestock could be slaughtered on Eid-ul-Azha. 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 pollution, by distributing poly bags, every year, there has been no such improvement in waste management. The common people remarked that the poly bags are smaller even for an average-sized cow. There is not much space in those poly bags; they have to throw the remaining garbage into the drains or roadside. Eid is celebrated by almost everyone in our country. During Eid-ul-Azha, 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.
The health (water quality) of the river should not be forgotten on Eid. During Eid, large amounts of livestock waste are flowing into the river by all drains of Dhaka city. In addition, the Leather processing industry produces a large volume of effluent during this time. Since the CETP located in the tannery industry area at Hemayetpur in Savar has less capacity than the demand of the effluent discharge of tanneries. Therefore, 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.
A special technique must be taken to do Qurbani in flooded areas. Flood-affected areas are prone to waterborne diseases, with food and medicine shortages exacerbating the situation.
In flooded areas livestock hat (market) should be set up in highland areas, and slaughtering should be done in highland and dry areas. We should very careful about waste and animal leftovers management, it should not spread here and there, especially in the water. Waste can be dumped in holes in highland or dry soil areas and coverup with soil to reduce contamination. If it is not possible to do this in the flooded area 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.
(The writer is Dean, Faculty of Science, Stamford University Bangladesh).
