Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered the government to constitute a high-powered committee headed by environment secretary to formulate guidelines to reduce the air pollution in and around Dhaka city.
The committee members will include the chief executive officers of Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation, Managing Director of Dhaka WASA and representatives from BRTA and DESCO, and from other agencies if needed.
The court asked the committee to submit a report within 30 days and fixed January 5 next year for further hearing on the case.
The HC bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights organization, seeking a necessary order.
At the same time, the High Court ordered the concerned bodies of the government to conduct mobile courts in order to shut down all illegal brick fields of five districts, including Dhaka, within 15 days to reduce air pollution in the capital.
The four other districts are Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Manikganj.
Advocate Manzill Murshid appeared in the court in favor of the writ petition while Deputy Attorney General Barrister ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar stood for the State.
The capital had the worst air quality in the world, according to Air Visual, an air quality measuring application.
Mr Bashar said, “World Bank and the environment department reported recently on the air pollution of Dhaka city where it identified brick fields as number one reason. And another report prepared by a Norwegian expert said 52 per cent cause of Dhaka city’s air pollution is brick fields. That is why the High Court ordered to conduct mobile courts to take legal proceedings against the illegal brick fields.”
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the writ petition on January 27, 2019, enclosing some newspapers cutting.
