Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Grand Iftar that feeds 35,000 people every day
Making of the UAE's largest Iftar meal that feeds 35,000 people daily at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque every Ramadan is not an easy task. An army of chefs and cooking assistants work hard to deliver thousands of Iftar meals to fasting Muslims, inside the tents set up on the sprawling lawns of the iconic mosque.
About 1,000 people work all day at the big Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel's big kitchen to produce the free Iftar meals for the worshippers who break their fast at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque during the holy month.
The team consists of 350 chefs, 160 stewards and 450 service staff - including purchasing, store, hygiene and safety - all work hand-in-hand to prepare and put together the Iftar meals.
"To present the meal boxes to the fasting guests every dusk, we have upgraded our services with new ideas such as improving our parcel boxes, change of equipment in the kitchen for more health and safety measurements and efficiency to prepare this big amount of food and to improve on the standards, decoration and accuracy as well," said Karsten Gottschalk, executive chef at the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
At the kitchen, the staff uses 12 tonnes of chicken and six tonnes of lamb are used each day in addition to other products and ingredients such as rice, vegetables, tomatoes and onions, amounting to 35 tonnes.
A meal box also includes an apple, water, dates, laban drink and fruit juices. After the meal parcels are packed, they are taken over to the nearby Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Eleven huge air-conditioned tents have been erected in the mosque gardens - with each accommodating up to 1,500 people.
Volunteers from the UAE Red Crescent also help the group from the UAE Armed Forces in calling on and directing people to take seats well before the canon goes off announcing the ending of the fast and Maghrib prayer.
Tim Kasozi, 32, an Ugandan taxi driver, said last year was his first time he broke fast at the Grand Mosque since moving to the Capital in 2015. "It's such a cool and comfortable place," he said. "I was impressed by the great organisation. I had never had chance to have Iftar with such a big number of people."
Bangladeshi construction worker Omar Abdul Kareem who lives at a labour accommodation in Mussafah said their company bus transports them daily to the big Iftar. "I go to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque every day to end my fast. The food served is really good."
Abdul Kareem added that he's been having the free iftar for the past three years. "It's a good thing for me given my Dh1,000 monthly salary," he said.
Bachelors and families from the city centre and thousands of workers from labour accommodations in Mussafah, Mafraq and Baniyas flock to the Grand Mosque daily using cars and the free shuttle service to and from the mosque to their accommodations.
What is in the mealbox
► Apple
► Water
► Dates
► Laban drink
► Fruit juices
► Rice with meat or chicken
Who prepares the food
A total of 1,000 people work all day at the big Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel's big kitchen to produce the free iftar meals for the worshippers who break their fast at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque during the holy month.
The team consists of 350 chefs, 160 stewards and 450 service staff - including purchasing, store, hygiene and safety - all work hand-in-hand to prepare and put together the Iftar meals.
courtesy : khaleejtimes.com
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Kejriwal responds to EC, says water received from Haryana 'extremely poisonous' for human health
New Delhi (PTI): AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday responded to the Election Commission notice over his claim the Haryana government was "mixing poison" in Yamuna, and said raw water received from the BJP-ruled state in the recent past has been "highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.
In the 14-page reply to the Election Commission, the former Delhi chief minister said if such "toxic water" is allowed to be consumed by human population it would lead to grave health hazard and fatality.
Kejriwal said he only wanted to highlight the "urgent public health crisis" due to the quality of drinking water in the city, and he violated no law or Model Code of Conduct, hence the issue should be closed.
He said the "alleged statements" attributed to him were made as it was his public duty to red flag the "severe toxicity and contamination" of raw water received from the BJP-ruled state.
Following a complaint filed by the BJP over the matter, the Election Commission issued the notice to Kejriwal on Tuesday, giving him time till Wednesday 8 pm to furnish his reply.
Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in raw water received from Haryana was so "extreme" that water treatment plants in Delhi are unable to process and bring it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.
Following their party chief's response, the AAP issued a statement, saying, "It is an undisputed fact that there is 7 ppm ammonia in Yamuna water, A Delhi Jal Board CEO letter admits toxicity is 700 percent higher than the permissible limit."
In his response to the EC, Kejriwal also alleged that Haryana's "failure" in controlling pollution in Yamuna has resulted in an "unprecedented public health crisis" in Delhi. He alleged "indiscriminate" discharge of industrial waste in the river by the state.
The AAP supremo said Haryana is an upper-riparian state and Delhi, ruled by his party, has no role to play in the high level of toxic water being made available to the city.
"Due to such high level of toxic content in the raw water supplied by Haryana, the water treatment plants in Delhi are operating below capacity and there is a shortage of treated water in Delhi," he claimed.
Saying that access to clean water is a basic human right, the AAP chief asserted that raising this critical issue cannot be considered an offence.
"The said statement by no stretch of the imagination can be termed inciting enmity between different groups or prejudicial to national integration," he said.
On the contrary, the substance and purpose of these statements are rooted solely in the public interest, aimed at highlighting a legitimate civic concern that requires urgent institutional intervention, he asserted.
He requested the EC to intervene in the matter and issue appropriate directions to Haryana so safe water is made available to the people of Delhi.
