UNB, Dhaka :
As Bangladesh continues to maintain its record-setting growth, solutions to its air pollution need to be worked out carefully without affecting the growth, said US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Thursday.
The US envoy came up with the remark while speaking as a panelist in a panel discussion titled “Air Quality in Bangladesh – Challenges and Solutions” at EMK Centre in the city marking the Air Quality Awareness Week 2018. Motor vehicles, traffic, construction works and development works cannot be just stopped to prevent the air pollution, she said. The Ambassador suggested that Bangladesh needs to find more ways to bring venture capital to Bangladesh to implement the innovative ideas of the country’s young people which need funds to work for cleaner air. Conserving power and uses of better technologies are also needed, Bernicat added.
Saleemul Huq, Director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Abul Kalam Azad, Directorate General of Health Services, Mohammad Abdul Motalib, Senior Chemist of the Department of Environment, Abdus Salam, a Professor at the Dhaka University’s Chemistry
department, Mohammad Golam Sarowar, Scientific Officer of the Department of Environment, Iverson Long, Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka were among the panelists.
Mentioning air pollution as a seasonal issue for the country, the panelists said the air quality in Bangladesh, especially in Dhaka, declines mostly in dry season with brick kilns being the biggest contributor to the pollution. Abdul Motalib said the brick kilns are run during the dry season instead of the rainy season. That is why the air quality in Bangladesh falls during the dry season, he added.
He said, a study conducted from 2011 to 2013 shows that the country’s brick kilns contribute 58 percent to the total air pollution. No study could be conducted for further update for lack of funds, Motalib added.
Golam Sarowar said pollution remains deeper in winter at the ground level as vehicles’ emission gets trapped in the fog and the pollutants cannot go up due to low temperature.
Mentioning traffic emission, rural cooking using biofuel, brick burning and trans-boundary air pollution as the main reasons behind the decrease in Bangladesh air quality, Abdus Salam said the pollution produced by brick kilns and other ways cannot be washed out as there is no rain in dry season, worsening the air pollution.
Referring to the popular use of electric auto-rickshaws in areas outside Dhaka, Saleemul Huq said encouraging more electric vehicles using solar system, both in urban and rural areas can help reduce the pollution caused by traffic.
As Bangladesh continues to maintain its record-setting growth, solutions to its air pollution need to be worked out carefully without affecting the growth, said US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on Thursday.
The US envoy came up with the remark while speaking as a panelist in a panel discussion titled “Air Quality in Bangladesh – Challenges and Solutions” at EMK Centre in the city marking the Air Quality Awareness Week 2018. Motor vehicles, traffic, construction works and development works cannot be just stopped to prevent the air pollution, she said. The Ambassador suggested that Bangladesh needs to find more ways to bring venture capital to Bangladesh to implement the innovative ideas of the country’s young people which need funds to work for cleaner air. Conserving power and uses of better technologies are also needed, Bernicat added.
Saleemul Huq, Director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Abul Kalam Azad, Directorate General of Health Services, Mohammad Abdul Motalib, Senior Chemist of the Department of Environment, Abdus Salam, a Professor at the Dhaka University’s Chemistry
department, Mohammad Golam Sarowar, Scientific Officer of the Department of Environment, Iverson Long, Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka were among the panelists.
Mentioning air pollution as a seasonal issue for the country, the panelists said the air quality in Bangladesh, especially in Dhaka, declines mostly in dry season with brick kilns being the biggest contributor to the pollution. Abdul Motalib said the brick kilns are run during the dry season instead of the rainy season. That is why the air quality in Bangladesh falls during the dry season, he added.
He said, a study conducted from 2011 to 2013 shows that the country’s brick kilns contribute 58 percent to the total air pollution. No study could be conducted for further update for lack of funds, Motalib added.
Golam Sarowar said pollution remains deeper in winter at the ground level as vehicles’ emission gets trapped in the fog and the pollutants cannot go up due to low temperature.
Mentioning traffic emission, rural cooking using biofuel, brick burning and trans-boundary air pollution as the main reasons behind the decrease in Bangladesh air quality, Abdus Salam said the pollution produced by brick kilns and other ways cannot be washed out as there is no rain in dry season, worsening the air pollution.
Referring to the popular use of electric auto-rickshaws in areas outside Dhaka, Saleemul Huq said encouraging more electric vehicles using solar system, both in urban and rural areas can help reduce the pollution caused by traffic.
