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Eid, dengue and waste management

Around this time last year, the government fixed 2,954 spots in 11 city corporations of the country for slaughtering sacrificial animals to speed up the disposal of waste, blood and leftovers after the slaughters. Around 21,000 cleaners employed by the Dhaka south and north city corporations (DSCC and DNCC) were involved in clearing out waste on August 22, 2018 (Eid day). We hope to see similar actions this year also, and it is even more crucial that officials enforce the requirement that sacrificial slaughtering only takes place in designated places, in order to combat further spread of Aedes mosquitoes—the primary vector of dengue.

Though officials have implemented programmes to protect citizens from dengue infections, it is imperative to efficiently devise strategies for animal waste removal in light of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. As for city dwellers, it is important for them to understand that removing waste swiftly will prevent these deadly mosquitoes, which have been terrorising our nation for the past month, from continuing to do so. We must all fulfil our collective social responsibility to remove waste swiftly.

Md Shamiul Islam, by email