Offal collection points to be set up at union council level

Collection points to lift offal will be established at union council level in all the seven districts of Karachi with the consultation of the deputy commissioners concerned.

The decision was taken during a meeting at the commissioner’s office on Thursday. Commissioner Navid Ahmed Shaikh reviewed arrangements for clearing the remains of sacrificial animals during the Eidul Azha festival.

The commissioner was briefed about the contingency plans prepared by the departments concerned with regard to the removal and shifting of offal of sacrificial animals to the landfill sites, and the subsequent clean-up and spraying.

The officials of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) briefed the commissioner about the plan for the lifting and disposal of offal. Animal entrails, according to the SSWMB, will be disposed of at the Jam Chakro and Gond Pass landfill sites.

It was also decided in the meeting that the SSWMB, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), the district municipal corporations (DMCs) and the cantonment boards will work for the lifting and disposing of offal, and the clean-up in coordination with the relevant departments under the supervision of the deputy commissioners.

The meeting also reviewed the steps to be taken for the implementation of the guidelines issued by the Sindh government for the collection of hides of sacrificial animals. The meeting decided that only those who have obtained written permission or a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the commissioner or the relevant deputy commissioner will be allowed to collect hides. All of them will have to follow the guidelines in accordance with the permission or the NOC.

The meeting also reviewed the efforts being made by the deputy commissioners for the implementation of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the city. It was decided that all businesses will follow the SOPs strictly. The commissioner asked the deputy commissioners to effectively implement the SOPs in view of the expected fourth wave of the virus, as advised by the National Command & Operation Centre.

The commissioner asked the deputy commissioners to ensure that the SOPs are strictly complied with at the cattle markets as well as at different markets of the city. The meeting was attended among others by Karachi Additional Commissioner-II Jawad Muzaffar; traffic police chief DIG Zulfiqar Larak; all the deputy commissioners; Assistant Commissioner General Ejaz Hussain Rind; all the municipal commissioners of the DMCs; senior officials of the KMC, the cantonment boards, the Sindh government’s livestock and local government departments, the traffic police and the Pakistan Rangers; and a K-Electric representative.