Staff Reporter :
Waste management in Dhaka metropolis is still in a sorry state, which calls for more attention from the city corporations to provide city dwellers a healthier lifestyle, a study reveals.
A project like mini waste bins has been proved to be unsustainable and sostly without delivering significant results to the city dwellers. Waste based power plants remained hypothetical due to in sufficient funds. As many as 3R waste management projects have flopped due to low consciousness among users and proper waste management system in the country.
Under the waste management plan by DSCC, 19 secondary transfer stations (STS) were built. It had a plan to build one STS in each ward. 5700 roadside mini waste bins were placed under 12,000 mini waste projects, which failed for lack of maintenance and awarness of city dwellers.
52 STS out of the proposed 72 STS have so far been built. Residents are still suffering from toxic waste smell on different roads under the two city corporations-DSCC and DNCC.
DSCC Chief Waste Management Officer Md Shafiqul Alam said they are keen to manage city waste effectively and capacity building is going on to cope with the situation.
DNCC Chief Waste Management Officer, Captain Bipan Kumar Saha did not respond when contacted over phone.
The total waste generated in Dhaka is about 4,634.52 tons of waste per day accumulating 1.69 million tons per year approximately. About 78 per cent of solid waste is coming from residential sector, 20 per cent from commercial sector, 1 per cent from industrial sector and the rest 1 per cent from other sources, according to city corporation sources.
DNCC has 3586 cleaners, 108 waste management drivers, 180 waste carrying containers and 115 waste collection trucks, while DSCC has 5300 cleaners, 183 waste management drivers, 270 waste carrying containers and 235 waste collection trucks.
Sraboni Sikder, a house wife, told The New Nation: “Primarily our wastes are collected from home by the community management, but when those are dumped into the street dustbins openly for procession it causes odour.”
“We pay additional Tk 100-300 per month to carry our household waste from sources despite paying regular taxes to DSCC”, said Jahir Hawlader, a house owner at Dholaipar area of the city.
“It’s our right to get a cleaner environment for living but we are living in a hazardous environment full of wastes around us. For a healthier city living we demand that the DSCC develop a more effective waste management system”, she added.
As waste management is highly expensive, it would be difficult for local authorities to take full responsibility unless other public sector and private sector institutions jointly take part in the process, said Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director at the Centrr for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Waste collection has to be followed by developing an efficient transfer operation of waste at minimum transport distance and least cost. The transfer points should be carefully designed to facilitate the community-based collectors while the processing points have to be ensured with less environment pollution and less activity of scavengers. Better equipment and financial support could encourage collectors to ensure better waste procession, he mentioned.
Abdus Sobhan, general secretary of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), said that community people have to be more active about waste disposal and management. It is their responsibility and duty to keep their surroundings waste free, clean and healthy.
More social integration, awareness and bonding with environment could create effective waste management system for the society. Only institutional activities are not enough to keep environment tidy, livable and clean, he added.
The study reveals that unplanned urbanization with increased population is generating massive amount of waste every day. The situation is worsening due to lack of adequate strategies of waste management, manpower shortage of DNCC and DSCC, shortage of budget, lack of cutting edge technological adaptation by the authorities, low level of consciousness about waste disposal among dwellers, source separation of items, lack of safe dumping zones, malpractices like burning of solid wastes are contributing to degraded city life condition.
The major dumping stations of Dhaka at Aminbazar and Matuail are emitting methane, green house gases and odour causing public health threats while other regional dumping stations are in the worst situation with mass open space burning.
Those dumping points are generating different health hazards to the adjacent dwellers, thanks to the apathy of the authorities concerned.
Waste management in Dhaka metropolis is still in a sorry state, which calls for more attention from the city corporations to provide city dwellers a healthier lifestyle, a study reveals.
A project like mini waste bins has been proved to be unsustainable and sostly without delivering significant results to the city dwellers. Waste based power plants remained hypothetical due to in sufficient funds. As many as 3R waste management projects have flopped due to low consciousness among users and proper waste management system in the country.
Under the waste management plan by DSCC, 19 secondary transfer stations (STS) were built. It had a plan to build one STS in each ward. 5700 roadside mini waste bins were placed under 12,000 mini waste projects, which failed for lack of maintenance and awarness of city dwellers.
52 STS out of the proposed 72 STS have so far been built. Residents are still suffering from toxic waste smell on different roads under the two city corporations-DSCC and DNCC.
DSCC Chief Waste Management Officer Md Shafiqul Alam said they are keen to manage city waste effectively and capacity building is going on to cope with the situation.
DNCC Chief Waste Management Officer, Captain Bipan Kumar Saha did not respond when contacted over phone.
The total waste generated in Dhaka is about 4,634.52 tons of waste per day accumulating 1.69 million tons per year approximately. About 78 per cent of solid waste is coming from residential sector, 20 per cent from commercial sector, 1 per cent from industrial sector and the rest 1 per cent from other sources, according to city corporation sources.
DNCC has 3586 cleaners, 108 waste management drivers, 180 waste carrying containers and 115 waste collection trucks, while DSCC has 5300 cleaners, 183 waste management drivers, 270 waste carrying containers and 235 waste collection trucks.
Sraboni Sikder, a house wife, told The New Nation: “Primarily our wastes are collected from home by the community management, but when those are dumped into the street dustbins openly for procession it causes odour.”
“We pay additional Tk 100-300 per month to carry our household waste from sources despite paying regular taxes to DSCC”, said Jahir Hawlader, a house owner at Dholaipar area of the city.
“It’s our right to get a cleaner environment for living but we are living in a hazardous environment full of wastes around us. For a healthier city living we demand that the DSCC develop a more effective waste management system”, she added.
As waste management is highly expensive, it would be difficult for local authorities to take full responsibility unless other public sector and private sector institutions jointly take part in the process, said Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director at the Centrr for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Waste collection has to be followed by developing an efficient transfer operation of waste at minimum transport distance and least cost. The transfer points should be carefully designed to facilitate the community-based collectors while the processing points have to be ensured with less environment pollution and less activity of scavengers. Better equipment and financial support could encourage collectors to ensure better waste procession, he mentioned.
Abdus Sobhan, general secretary of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), said that community people have to be more active about waste disposal and management. It is their responsibility and duty to keep their surroundings waste free, clean and healthy.
More social integration, awareness and bonding with environment could create effective waste management system for the society. Only institutional activities are not enough to keep environment tidy, livable and clean, he added.
The study reveals that unplanned urbanization with increased population is generating massive amount of waste every day. The situation is worsening due to lack of adequate strategies of waste management, manpower shortage of DNCC and DSCC, shortage of budget, lack of cutting edge technological adaptation by the authorities, low level of consciousness about waste disposal among dwellers, source separation of items, lack of safe dumping zones, malpractices like burning of solid wastes are contributing to degraded city life condition.
The major dumping stations of Dhaka at Aminbazar and Matuail are emitting methane, green house gases and odour causing public health threats while other regional dumping stations are in the worst situation with mass open space burning.
Those dumping points are generating different health hazards to the adjacent dwellers, thanks to the apathy of the authorities concerned.
