Eidul Azha: LWMC unveils waste management plan

The company unveiled its solid waste management plan at a seminar titled Solid Waste Management on Eidul Azha and Role of Citizens in Maintenance of Sanitation.

Punjab Minister for Environment Begum Zakiya Shahnawaz, LWMC Chairman Ahmad Rafay Alam and Managing Director Bilal Mustafa Syed were chief guests at the seminar.

Albayrak Project Director Mr Care, Ozpak Project Coordinator Afzal Shah, MPA Majid Zahoor, Environment Director General Dr Javed Iqbal and WWF Managing Director Hammad Naqi were key speakers at the seminar.

Talking about the sanitation arrangements for Eid, Syed said that LWMC’s Eid operation would be supported by more machinery and workforce this year compared to previous years.

“The number of customised waste bags has been increased to 1.5 million for effective and smooth collection of animal waste and its disposal in an environment-friendly manner on Eid,” he said.

Shahnawaz said the Punjab government would support all efforts to improve people’s living standards and ensure clean and healthy cities. Alam praised sanitary workers for their services. He laid stress on civil society and government’s role in improvement of the sanitation system.

Other speakers highlighted the need for coordination between the LWMC and various district government departments for a clean city. They said the LWMC would set up kiosks to educate people about cleanliness and distribute educational material during Eid holidays.

Collective ‘Qurbani’ culture is need of the day

Chitral — As Eid ul Azha  or Eid e Qurban (festival of sacrifice) draws near, thousands and thousands of sheep, goats, cows, bulls, camels etc are being bought by Muslims for the purpose of slaughtering them on Eid day in accordance with the obligatory ritual for all muslims who can afford to buy the animal for the purpose.

There are two ways of performing the ritual, first, each earning person slaughters a smaller animal like a goat or sheep or a number of people pool in and sacrifice a bigger animal like a cow, bull, buffalo or camel. The later appears a more practical and viable option in present day scenario.
Every locality should contribute to buy a large bull or camel and feed it for a month collectively and sacrifice it on Eid day. This way the ritual obligation would be fulfilled, while less animals would be slaughtered. As Muslims, we are obliged to perform rituals which are mandatory but doing so in a more practical and permissible manner is what needs to be looked into and encouraged.