UNB, Dhaka :
Paribesh Bachao Andalon (POBA), an environment protection organization, has asked for the strict enforcement of the laws to save the Dhaka City from polluting air.
They made the remarks in a roundtable on ‘Emergency and Implementable responsibilities for controlling the air pollution of the Dhaka city’ on Saturday in its auditorium.
Speakers said that according to the Department of Environment (DoE), the air quality of Dhaka is now in the red category, meaning dangerous for health. It is possible to control the air pollution and especially unusual growth of dust if authorities including City Corporation, BRTA, Wasa take appropriate steps to implement their responsibilities properly, they asserted.
They were critical of a growing tendency of taking up costly projects without being mindful to arrest the deteriorating air condition in the city. The DoE has to strictly enforce laws to prevent the Dhaka City’s air pollution considering the environment
and the people, they empacised. POBA Chairman Abu Naser Khan chaired the meeting while general secretary Abdus Sobhan presented the keynote paper in the meeting.
Engineer Md. Abdus Sobhan said that the imported coal in Bangladesh is very low quality (the amount of sulfur is more than 5 times the fixed level) and the coal is used for burning bricks. Imported petrol and diesel are of very low quality too.
“Modern equipment is not used in development work. According to the data from the Environment Department on 22 November, the air quality index (AQI) of Dhaka was 269, a point that is considered very unhealthy and harmful for health. If current rate of air pollution continues, then Dhaka and Chittagong Metropolises, and Narayanganj and Gazipur, will have to face severe calamity in the smoke pollution like Delhi,” alerted Sobhan.
He said “According to the Environment Protection Act of 1995 and the Preparation and Restoration of Bricks of 2013 (Control) Act, the main responsibility of controlling the air pollution was entrusted to the Department of Environment. But the Department is not enforcing the laws properly. The Directorate is promoting awareness programs (meetings, seminars, workshops, print and electronic media) only. It is the people’s expectation that the Department will enforce the laws for air pollution.”
Other speakers said that the level of air pollution in the city increases in the winter and they identified thousands of brick fields around Dhaka, black smoke and dust, vehicles and factories, toxic smoke from mill factories and construction work, megaproject work, and throwing household waste in open air as contributing factors.
Paribesh Bachao Andalon (POBA), an environment protection organization, has asked for the strict enforcement of the laws to save the Dhaka City from polluting air.
They made the remarks in a roundtable on ‘Emergency and Implementable responsibilities for controlling the air pollution of the Dhaka city’ on Saturday in its auditorium.
Speakers said that according to the Department of Environment (DoE), the air quality of Dhaka is now in the red category, meaning dangerous for health. It is possible to control the air pollution and especially unusual growth of dust if authorities including City Corporation, BRTA, Wasa take appropriate steps to implement their responsibilities properly, they asserted.
They were critical of a growing tendency of taking up costly projects without being mindful to arrest the deteriorating air condition in the city. The DoE has to strictly enforce laws to prevent the Dhaka City’s air pollution considering the environment
and the people, they empacised. POBA Chairman Abu Naser Khan chaired the meeting while general secretary Abdus Sobhan presented the keynote paper in the meeting.
Engineer Md. Abdus Sobhan said that the imported coal in Bangladesh is very low quality (the amount of sulfur is more than 5 times the fixed level) and the coal is used for burning bricks. Imported petrol and diesel are of very low quality too.
“Modern equipment is not used in development work. According to the data from the Environment Department on 22 November, the air quality index (AQI) of Dhaka was 269, a point that is considered very unhealthy and harmful for health. If current rate of air pollution continues, then Dhaka and Chittagong Metropolises, and Narayanganj and Gazipur, will have to face severe calamity in the smoke pollution like Delhi,” alerted Sobhan.
He said “According to the Environment Protection Act of 1995 and the Preparation and Restoration of Bricks of 2013 (Control) Act, the main responsibility of controlling the air pollution was entrusted to the Department of Environment. But the Department is not enforcing the laws properly. The Directorate is promoting awareness programs (meetings, seminars, workshops, print and electronic media) only. It is the people’s expectation that the Department will enforce the laws for air pollution.”
Other speakers said that the level of air pollution in the city increases in the winter and they identified thousands of brick fields around Dhaka, black smoke and dust, vehicles and factories, toxic smoke from mill factories and construction work, megaproject work, and throwing household waste in open air as contributing factors.
