EID comes every time with some concern for the authorities to attend to. It is mostly the safety of people when they leave the capital city for outlying areas before Eid and when they get back to the city after Eid. So many people travelling at a time burdens the transport network and the system, with traffic accidents taking place, causing fatalities and injuries. The burden could somewhat be lessened this year because of the prolonged Eid holiday, which has allowed people to leave the city at intervals. Yet, Eid-ul-Azha comes with a few more issues. The first is the markets that are temporarily set up at places across the country for people to buy sacrificial animals. The menace lies in the extortion that the traders face when they take their cattle to the markets, the political manipulation of the markets that puts the traders at risk and the management of the market that mostly remains hazardous. In the changed political context and the markets officially having begun on June 3, extortion and mismanagement have not yet been reported. It is expected that law enforcers and other authorities would keep vigil on the issues.
The other menace that comes with the sales of sacrificial animals is the rampant use of fattening drugs that traders, especially the traders who raise cattle with Eid-ul-Azha in mind, use, eyeing profits, thereby exposing both humans and the cattle thus fattened to grave risks. Experts say that many of the traders use substances such as steroids, hormones and high-protein injections to fatten cows, but all this subjects the animals to severe stress and pain and contaminates the meat. The consumption of the meat of fattened animals can cause damage to the kidney, resistance against antibiotics and obesity in children. This also adds to the risk of cancer. It is generally said, and also reported, that the traders use such substances to fatten animals at the insistence of the representatives of the companies that sell such drugs. Allegations also have it that public agencies mandated to check against the application of such substances are often unable to attend to the traders鈥� needs. Companies importing or manufacturing the drugs cash in on the situation and convince traders to use such drugs. What also remains concerning is the cleaning of animal wastes after the sacrifice of the animals. The authorities who claim to be cleaning up the city in 24 hours usually fail to do so satisfactorily, although they have in recent years stepped up their efforts.
All relevant authorities should, therefore, work a bit more to significantly head off the menace that comes with Eid, especially Eid-ul-Azha.
