'We just want no complaints about waste disposal'

Waste disposal officially began in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) at around 2:00pm in the afternoon of Eid-ul Azha, Monday. The clearing away of sacrificial animal waste was inaugurated by DNCC mayor Atiqul Islam at Paris Road in Mirpur.

However, around eight hours before this, that is, from 6:00am Monday morning, Iqbal Hossain began clearing away the "qurbani" waste. Iqbal Hossain is a worker of the waste removal van service in ward 33 of the Dhaka North. Officially the van service begins work at 8:00am.        

Iqbal Hossain said, "We have to do the work anyway, early or late. That is why I started early so I can end early." He said, "I work hard even on Eid day, so no one can complain about garbage and waste in our ward."

Iqbal was talking at around 10:45am in the Mohammadia Housing area of Mohammedpur. He said he was collecting sacrificial animal waste from Block-A of Nobodoy Housing area. While talking to this Prothom Alo correspondent, he was taking down garbage from engine-run 'nasimon' vehicle.

An on-the-spot visit saw another 10 workers or so unloading garbage from 'nasimon' vehicles or cycle vans. They said they were basically collecting the discarded hay, grass, cow dung and other waste, alongside the normal daily household garbage. After the sacrificial animals are slaughtered, the other waste will be collected too.

Another cleaner of the van service company, Md Javed, said that after offering Eid prayers at the local mosque, he began work at around 8:00 in the morning. He is removing "qurbani" waste from roads 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Mohammadia Housing area.

Javed has been working as a van service cleaner, Javed has been clearing away sacrificial animal waste for the past 21 years. He said, "There was a time when even after we would collect the waste from homes and the lanes, waste would still rot on the streets. The city corporation was not adequately staffed at the time. Now things have changed. For the past few years the waste doesn't rot on the streets."

Sources in DNCC waste management department say that this year the mayor has announced that the "qurbani" waste will be removed within six hours. Involved in this task are around 4,200 cleaners who collect household waste from 54 wards. They basically collect waste from the areas specified by the city corporation. These workers are not on the city corporation payroll and they are not given any separate wages for Eid.

Several workers of the van service company say that on Eid they cannot be with their families because they are busy clearing "qurbani" waste. There is so much work pressure that they can't even catch a meal at home. They say that since the city corporation doesn't pay them, at least a meal on Eid day would be encouraging.

Siraj Sardar, owner of van service company Mohammadi Super Cleaners Pvt Ltd which works in Dhaka North city ward 33, told Prothom Alo, "I have been running this van service since 1996. Since then, every qurbani Eid is spent in filth and garbage. There is no returning home until the job is absolutely complete." He says his company has 16  vans and 40 workers at the job.

Alongside the van service workers, drivers of the city corporation dump trucks, compactor trucks and open trucks also take the garbage to the landfills. Bulldozers and pay-loaders as well as other heavy vehicles load the waste into the dump trucks.

Speaking to Prothom Alo at around 11:00am Monday morning, open truck driver Ismail Hossain said, Eid festivity for us is offering Eid prayers in the morning and embracing everyone in Eid greetings. After that we get immersed the filth and garbage.