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4 HOSPITALS

Cattle trapped

Helemul Alam and Porimol Palma
As the LGRD ministry remains indifferent to people's discomfiture in getting access to key city hospitals ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the health ministry yesterday sought home's intervention in stopping the makeshift cattle market operating at Agargaon.
“Cattle overflow onto adjacent streets, ultimately causing traffic chaos in front of the hospitals in the area which can cause patients' death without treatment. So, today [yesterday] we wrote to the home ministry to stop the operation of the market,” Mosharraf Hossain, joint secretary at the health ministry, told this newspaper.
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), like the previous years, has leased a field to a bidder to set up the cattle market. The venue is next to the
National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital atSher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), Dhaka Shishu Hospital and National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital are just a few yards off the market.
Also nearby are the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital and National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology.
Thousands of patients, including many with critical accident injuries, visit the hospitals every day.
A huge number of sacrificial animals are put on sale at the market, which draw numerous buyers. And there is hardly any space left on the adjacent roads for traffic, said an employee at NITOR.
A physician added: "Even ambulances carrying critical patients can't reach the hospital. Relatives get down from ambulances far away from the hospital and carry patients on their own."
To avoid any such troubles this time around, the health ministry on August 3 wrote to the LGRD ministry and the DNCC, requesting them not to set up any cattle market at Agargaon, but to no avail.
Traders have already started bringing cattle to the market. In a day or two, the sacrificial animals are likely to overflow the nearby streets.
"As our request went unheeded, we are now seeking home ministry's intervention to stop the cattle market. Let us see what happens," Mosharraf Hossain said.
The DNCC, along with the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), has given permission to successful bidders to set up 15 other makeshift cattle markets in the city. Besides, there is the permanent market at Gabtoli.
Contacted, B M Enamul Hoque, chief executive officer of DNCC, said they leased the field at Agargaon as there is no alternative venue at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The city corporation has clearly defined the areas designated for the cattle markets and sent maps to police so that they can take action if any market expands beyond those areas, he added.
Abdul Matin, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, said the authorities concerned must consider leasing land for makeshift cattle markets without disrupting people's access to hospitals.
As the land for the Agargaon cattle market has already been leased this year, the authorities must ensure that patients do not suffer, he insisted.
The city corporations should conduct a study for better management of cattle markets in the capital as the issue is significant from the public health perspective, observed the green activist.
MARKETS ON ROADS
Cattle markets in the city usually stretch beyond their designated areas. The picture is not different this year.
The lessee of Azampur cattle market in Uttara has already started setting up bamboos along the roads near the Azampur Primary School.
A resident of Uttara, Rashida Taher said she suffers hugely due to the market as it blocks the road in front of her house.
"Even the waste is not cleared properly. It becomes very difficult staying at home for bad odour," she added.
DSCC Executive Magistrate Kabir Mahmood said they will operate two mobile courts to discipline the cattle markets.
"We will also ensure that the lessees don't charge the buyers higher taxes than the rate fixed by the government," he mentioned.
The DSCC, said Kabir, yesterday removed an illegal cattle market at Hazaribagh.