Sagar Biswas :
Air pollution has already been increased in the capital city at the advent of winter season posing a potential threat to public health, especially for the children.
Experts say, the situation will get worse in the coming months of December and January when the cold weather will dominate the country with its full force.
Usually, the quantity of different particles, including dust, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur-dioxide and nitrogen oxide, increase in the air of Dhaka during the winter.
In this context, the situation goes beyond control each and every year as the two city corporations of Dhaka did not take any pragmatic steps to tackle it.
According to experts, the children mainly become affected due to air-dust when the weather is changing.
Particularly, unplanned urbanization, frequent digging of roads, piling of drain-wastes beside the roads, taking no initiatives to keep construction materials in safe-side, delaying of flyover construction, etcetera are polluting the air of Dhaka rapidly; for which the health risk has also increased three to four times than the normal period. “The dust-related diseases have been increasing in the city in an abnormal way. The dust enters in the human body through breathing. As a result, the people suffer from lungs cancer, respiratory problem, asthma, tuberculosis and others,” Dr Md Motiur Rahman, Medicine Department, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said.
He said: “The people — children and elderly men — who have less resistance power mainly face problem at the advent of winter. If the air pollution cannot be checked, the capital city will become unfit for residing in the near future.” A total of 11 Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations [CAMS] is now in operation across the country under “sustainable environment and clean air project” to measure the air quality, officials of Department of Environment [DoE] said. Of them, three have been installed in Dhaka, two in Chittagong, one each in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal, Gazipur and Narayanganj. With these instruments, the air- pollution particles are being measured round-the-clock in those cities, they added.
According to the measurement of DoE, the level of air quality index [AQI] from zero to 50 PPM is green or healthy, if the AQI level is 51 to 100 PPM than it is medium air. And if the AQI crosses the level of 100 to 150 PPM, the air is considered as mild harmful. The air becomes ‘unhygienic’, if the AQI level crosses 150 to 200 PPM and it will be ‘very unhygienic’ after it crosses 201 to 300 PPM. Besides, the air is treated as ‘severe unhygienic’ if it crosses the level of 301 to 500PPM.
As per the AQI report received on Thursday, the air level was 309PPM in Dhaka, 236PPM in Barisal, 205PPM in Gazipur, 195PPM in Chittagong, 159PPM in Rajshahi and109PPM in Sylhet.
“The infrastructural works are usually done in the winter season in Dhaka… But the contractors do not finish the works properly maintaining the rules and regulations. To ensure safe health, the contractors must keep sand, soil and other materials in the safe side,” said chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolon Abu Naser Khan.
Air pollution has already been increased in the capital city at the advent of winter season posing a potential threat to public health, especially for the children.
Experts say, the situation will get worse in the coming months of December and January when the cold weather will dominate the country with its full force.
Usually, the quantity of different particles, including dust, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur-dioxide and nitrogen oxide, increase in the air of Dhaka during the winter.
In this context, the situation goes beyond control each and every year as the two city corporations of Dhaka did not take any pragmatic steps to tackle it.
According to experts, the children mainly become affected due to air-dust when the weather is changing.
Particularly, unplanned urbanization, frequent digging of roads, piling of drain-wastes beside the roads, taking no initiatives to keep construction materials in safe-side, delaying of flyover construction, etcetera are polluting the air of Dhaka rapidly; for which the health risk has also increased three to four times than the normal period. “The dust-related diseases have been increasing in the city in an abnormal way. The dust enters in the human body through breathing. As a result, the people suffer from lungs cancer, respiratory problem, asthma, tuberculosis and others,” Dr Md Motiur Rahman, Medicine Department, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said.
He said: “The people — children and elderly men — who have less resistance power mainly face problem at the advent of winter. If the air pollution cannot be checked, the capital city will become unfit for residing in the near future.” A total of 11 Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations [CAMS] is now in operation across the country under “sustainable environment and clean air project” to measure the air quality, officials of Department of Environment [DoE] said. Of them, three have been installed in Dhaka, two in Chittagong, one each in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal, Gazipur and Narayanganj. With these instruments, the air- pollution particles are being measured round-the-clock in those cities, they added.
According to the measurement of DoE, the level of air quality index [AQI] from zero to 50 PPM is green or healthy, if the AQI level is 51 to 100 PPM than it is medium air. And if the AQI crosses the level of 100 to 150 PPM, the air is considered as mild harmful. The air becomes ‘unhygienic’, if the AQI level crosses 150 to 200 PPM and it will be ‘very unhygienic’ after it crosses 201 to 300 PPM. Besides, the air is treated as ‘severe unhygienic’ if it crosses the level of 301 to 500PPM.
As per the AQI report received on Thursday, the air level was 309PPM in Dhaka, 236PPM in Barisal, 205PPM in Gazipur, 195PPM in Chittagong, 159PPM in Rajshahi and109PPM in Sylhet.
“The infrastructural works are usually done in the winter season in Dhaka… But the contractors do not finish the works properly maintaining the rules and regulations. To ensure safe health, the contractors must keep sand, soil and other materials in the safe side,” said chairman of Paribesh Bachao Andolon Abu Naser Khan.
