A responsible sacrifice

Eid ul Azha is just around the corner, and the general populous know what that entails. Sure, the bountiful amounts of meat to be cooked for later pleasure is one, however, there is an ugly side to this tempting scenario. During Eid, almost the entire populous, as a sign of faith and love for Islam, offer up a sacrifice in the form of an animal, be that goats, cows, sheep, or in some extreme cases, even camels. While this is all well and good, it does not justify what follows next. Blood, bits of flesh, skin, and other such unmentionables get strewn about all over the public space. In the end, inadvertently we begin opening up possibilities to tons of health hazards. 

Back in the day, our fair city took one heck of a bashing during Eid ul Adha. The streets would be masked with the smell of death and rotting flesh for weeks with traces of blood on the sidewalks. If an alien were to have happened upon this scene, it would assume that a war had taken place a few days ago. However, inconvenience of bad smell and scene is just the start of it. Because skin and some bits of flesh and other parts are discarded without care, they can become breeding grounds for many life threatening diseases such as Salmonella and also for flies and worms and other deadly pests and insects. 

Things have improved much over the years though, thanks to many of the initiatives of the government. The directives of the sanitation department pertaining to the clearing up of any and all remains, responsible disposal of animal hides and cleaning and bleaching the roads, are great initiatives that have helped to bring a much needed relief for the city dwellers during the Eid ul Adha. 

Another recent initiative involves the use of specified designated spots for citizens in different sections of the city, and indeed other major places around the country. This is of great benefit to city dwellers from all areas as it saves them the bother of having to slaughter the animal near their vicinity, and the responsibility of clean-up that would follow afterwards. Also, because these spots also hosts Imams and butchers, people can rest assured that the strict protocols to make the sacrifice Halal will be followed and the butchers will deal with all the cutting and chopping, relieving the hassle of hiring a butcher separately a few days before the Eid. 

This year's list of designated qurbani spots for Dhaka has been released. Dhaka South City Corp. will be designating 324 spots along with 360 Imams and 275 butchers, whereas Dhaka North City Corp. will be designating 200 spots along with 300 Imams and 205 butchers. These figures, while fixed, may be subject to change in the coming days, depending upon demand and so on. Furthermore, both Mayor Sayeed Khokon and Mayor Anisul Huq of the South and North Dhaka City Corporation respectively, have said that all the wastes of sacrificial animals will be removed from their designated city sections as soon as possible to avoid any form of environmental or health hazards. They also urged people to refrain from slaughtering animals on roads.

If there is now a concern on where these spots will be, don't worry, as that has also been taken into consideration. There will be announcements made in every area a few days before Eid to let people know where the nearest spots are. If that is not enough, there will also be mass SMS sent to everyone with the same information. While citizens are encouraged to use these premises for their full benefit, it is not mandatory. If someone wishes to sacrifice their animals in their neighbourhood, they must also take the responsibility of cleaning up thoroughly with water and bleach as well as getting rid of the pelts in a socially acceptable manner. 

With all these things in mind, sacrifice responsibly, and have a blessed Eid ul Adha.

By Intisab Shahriyar