Development at the cost of environment not acceptable

ENVIRONMENTAL Performance Index 2018 posited Bangladesh at the penultimate last ranking in the world in terms of handling environmental issues. This year Bangladesh has ranked 179, the worst in Asia, out of 180 countries, down from 173 two years ago. The wheel of development put forward by the government is running over the environment and the best example is the Sundarbans. While the government sought global aid to rehabilitate and develop adaptability of climate change victims, negligence to environmental issues is totally unacceptable as the environmental change impacts are already visible. The cruelty to the environment — by polluting rivers, water bodies or water flowing zones; by cutting trees, destroying forests or polluting rivers, air and sound are perhaps linked to those in power. The wilful negligence to aid those in power is a crime against the nation.

The EPI ranking was published on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Five countries at the bottom of the list are Nepal (31.44), India (30.57), the Democratic Republic of Congo (30.41), Bangladesh (29.56), and Burundi (27.43). Low scores on the EPI are indicative of the need for national sustainability efforts on a number of fronts, especially cleaning up air quality, protecting biodiversity, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The 180 countries were scored on 24 performance indicators across 10 categories, including air quality, water and sanitation, heavy metals, biodiversity and habitat, forests, fisheries, climate and energy, air pollution, water resources, and agriculture. Though the overall global environmental quality is improving, our performance is heart-wrenching. The pace of progress, however, may not be fast enough to achieve the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals and other international objectives.

The poor governance in the country is a prime cause of the environmental degradation. The absence of coherent government policies, absence of strict environmental laws, greedy public officials, and uncontrolled party men — all in a combined way are injuring the environment. During the decade of the ruling regime, we observed rampant river grabbing, the destruction of hillocks in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the cutting down of roadside trees, and the plying of water vessels through the Sundarbans by politically blessed people.

Environment issue has become a major concern in the last few decades. Of course, it is the byproduct of the development of civilization and a price for the progress. In the case of Bangladesh, we see the government often taking a contradictory policy regarding the issue in the name of development. Though the environmentalists are vocal against the setting up of power plants near the Sundarbans, the government is mindlessly adamant to implement the project. Sheer negligence to the environment is nothing but a wilful disregard for our future.