Punjab to launch massive Eid cleanup drive with 184,000 sanitation workers

The Punjab government on Saturday announced a province-wide cleanliness and sanitation operation for Eid-ul-Adha. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari said the government would continue its traditional Eid cleanliness arrangements and ensure proper sanitation measures during the religious festival. The authorities are deploying more than 184,000 sanitation workers and thousands of vehicles and machines to manage animal waste and maintain hygiene across the province.” She praised Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq for improving urban cleanliness standards, saying he had set a benchmark for sanitation management in the province. Bukhari said cattle markets would only be allowed at officially designated locations and warned that no unauthorized livestock markets would be permitted elsewhere. She added that traders had been provided facilities and security support, including deployment of paramilitary personnel at markets. She said a modern and well-organized goat market had been established at Shahpur Kanjran in Lahore and claimed there had been no major reports of fraud or theft involving traders so far. The minister also announced that mosques and imambargahs across Punjab would be washed with rose water during Eid-ul-Adha as part of special cleanliness measures. Addressing the briefing, Zeeshan Rafiq said Punjab, with a population of around 130 million people, would distribute 12 million waste bags for the disposal of animal remains during the three-day festival. He said the Eid sanitation operation would continue around the clock, with nearly 60,000 vehicles and machines taking part in the campaign. More than 4,500 operational camps would also be established, including one camp in every union council across the province. Rafiq said the government would use rose water and other cleaning chemicals during the operation, including 150,000 litres of phenyl and 40,000 litres of rose water.