Eid-ul-Adha is one of the most sacred times of the year for Muslims a festival rooted in devotion, sacrifice, and generosity. Families come together, prayers echo through the streets, and animals are offered as part of a centuries-old tradition.
But in Karachi, once the animals are sacrificed and the meat distributed, another, far more unpleasant ritual begins. It’s not spiritual. It’s not holy. It’s a complete breakdown of sanitation and public health. Blood-streaked roads, piles of rotting offal, and a stench that clings to the air for days that’s the reality many Karachiites live with after Eid.
“We’ve cleaned the streets ourselves. The authorities showed up four days later. Too little, too late.” — Resident, North Nazimabad
Streets Turn Into Slaughterhouses
Every year, thousands of animals are sacrificed across Karachi, from Gulshan to Korangi, Orangi to Defence. But the infrastructure to manage the aftermath simply doesn’t exist. In working-class areas like Liaquatabad, Lyari, and Saddar, animal waste is left in the open: intestines dumped in back alleys, hides clogging drains, and blood running through streets like water.
The city claims it collects over 100,000 tonnes of waste post-Eid. But if you walk down most streets during those days, the claim feels like a joke.
“The smell is unbearable. We’ve been using vinegar and charcoal, but nothing works. The drains are overflowing with blood and gunk.” — Resident, Gulistan-e-Jauhar
In low-income neighborhoods, the garbage stays for days sometimes a full week attracting flies, stray dogs, and rodents. The heat only makes it worse, accelerating decomposition and increasing the risk of disease.
From Sacrifice to Sickness: A Public Health Time Bomb
This isn’t just about discomfort or bad smells. Karachi’s post-Eid environment is a serious health hazard. Doctors and public health experts report a sharp rise in infections every year following the holiday. These include:
- Gastroenteritis and diarrhea from contaminated water
- Skin infections caused by contact with rotting waste
- Respiratory issues due to fumes from decomposing animal matter
- Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, especially where blood pools in stagnant water
Open sewers overflow. Blood and animal fat clog street drains. And the people most at risk children, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are often the least protected.
Who’s to Blame? The Institutions That Don’t Deliver
The responsibility for post-Eid cleanup officially lies with two main bodies: the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB). In theory, both work together to manage waste. In reality, both often pass the buck while citizens suffer.
🚛 Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB)
SSWMB typically outsources the cleanup operation to international contractors. They’re supposed to supply:
- Dump trucks and loaders
- Waste collection staff
- Special Eid collection points
But every year, residents report the same problems: bins are missing, vehicles break down, and workers show up late if they show up at all.
🏢 Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)
KMC is meant to coordinate the broader effort, but its problems are structural. The organization is underfunded and overstretched. According to insiders:
- Almost half of KMC’s sanitation fleet is broken or non-operational
- Many sweepers haven’t been paid in months, leading to walkouts
- There’s no coordination with the 25 different Town Municipal Corporations (TMCs), which operate like mini-governments with their own rules
This fragmented system means no one’s really in charge especially during a crisis.
Lip Service and Press Conferences
Ahead of every Eid, officials promise the same things. This year, Mayor Murtaza Wahab claimed:
- Over 10,000 sanitation workers would be deployed
- 99 official animal waste collection points were being set up
- Chlorine spray and rose water would be used for odor control
But when journalists and activists visited various sites, many of these collection points were inactive or completely missing. In some areas, waste was still lying in the streets 72 hours after Eid.
It’s not that there’s no plan it’s that the plan isn’t executed. And no one’s held accountable when it fails.
The People Step Up — Again
Tired of waiting, many citizens have taken matters into their own hands. In some neighborhoods:
- Families hire private sweepers
- Communities rent water tankers to wash down roads
- Activists distribute lime powder and disinfectants
- Volunteers organize cleanup brigades on WhatsApp
Social media users are also doing the work that officials won’t filming waste piles, tagging government handles, and shaming contractors into action. But this grassroots effort while inspiring is also a symptom of how broken the system is. People shouldn’t have to clean up what they pay taxes for.
The Ragpicker Problem — and the Law That’s Ignored
One major but often overlooked contributor to the chaos is the rise of ragpickers informal waste collectors who dig through piles of animal remains to extract hides, bones, and sellable parts. This often makes an already messy situation worse.
The government technically banned this under Section 144, but enforcement is spotty. In 2024, 96 ragpickers were arrested, but many were back on the streets within hours. Without real enforcement and safe alternatives for these informal workers, the problem continues.
So What Needs to Change?
Karachi doesn’t need another press release it needs a real solution. Experts and civic groups recommend several urgent reforms:
- Create a Single Eid Sanitation Authority – Empower one team with full control, budget, and accountability
- Make Sanitation Data Public – Use live dashboards to track which areas are cleaned and which aren’t
- Pay Sanitation Staff On Time – If you want a clean city, pay the people doing the cleaning
- Fix What You Already Have – Repair existing vehicles and equipment instead of renting more
- Work With Communities, Not Against Them – Involve mosques, schools, and local volunteers in awareness drives
- Enforce Laws — Properly – Don’t just announce bans — enforce them with support from police and Rangers if needed
Final Word: Spiritual Cleanliness Needs Civic Cleanliness
Eid-ul-Adha is about sacrifice, unity, and submission to divine will. But the post-Eid environment in Karachi sends a very different message one of dysfunction, neglect, and inequality. As this report from Nisfeman Journal shows, civic responsibility is not just a matter of policy it’s a matter of dignity. Karachi deserves to celebrate its most sacred days with both spiritual and environmental purity.
