Noman Mosharef :
The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change has undertaken the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project to abate air pollution in the capital at the cost of Tk 802 crore financed by World Bank (WB).
Interestingly 50 per cent of the total allocated fund was spent in non-materials sectors while 25 per cent spent for payment of salary, allowances and foreign travel by the project officials in the name of gathering experience.
The CASE project was launched in 2009 setting the implementation tenure to 2014. Later it was extended to June 2019. But the total budget of the project has already been spent without any effective outcome.
The Department of Environment (DoE) and both Dhaka City Corporations (DCCs) are jointly implementing the project.
Under the project the air quality of the capital has been checked. For this purpose four air monitoring centres have been set up in Dhaka and one each in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Sylhet, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
The air quality has been categorized as good, medium, unhealthy, very unhealthy and extremely unhealthy following particular procedure in these centres.
The related officials of air monitoring centres said, the quality of collected air from 11 centres was very unhealthy in winter season.
According to a report by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, out of the total cost of the CASE project, 25 per cent has been spent on machineries. The remaining 75 per cent has been spent in other sectors. Of the 75 per cent in other sectors, 26 per cent has been spent for the construction of new DoE building.
CASE project’s Director and also Additional Secretary Dr SM Monjurul Hannan Khan presented a report on the expenditure to a parliamentary committee meeting held at Cox’s Bazar DC office on October 18.
According to the report, Tk 802 crore was allocated for the CASE project and 25 per cent was spent for machinery and 75 per cent for other purposes.
Tk 182 crore was spent for officials’ salary and allowances, Tk 34 crore for media campaign, Tk 33 crore for travelling abroad, Tk 33 crore for consultancy, Tk 10 lakh for fairs, Tk 9 lakh for cultural programme, and Tk 1 lakh for washing officials’ clothes.
Besides, a total 31 new vehicles had been procured from the budget of CASE project in last 10 years. Nine vehicles have already gone out of order and 14 are now used by DSCC and DNCC officials.
According to a report submitted by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to Parliamentary Committee that Tk 460 have been spent by DSCC and DNCC.
Utilizing the funds, both the DCCs developed 83.91 km roads, drains and footpaths, 23 footover bridges, installed guard rails on 18 km median-footpath and 20 passenger sheds. Besides, they also spent for road marking, zebra crossing, road sign work, installation of 99 remote control traffic signals and 25 types of equipment for the traffic department of DMP. DSCC also constructed a two-storey warehouse-cum-office building at Hazaribagh utilizing a portion of the fund.
The works done under the CASE project would not have been supportive to development of the air quality in the capital said the experts in this sector.
Air pollution expert Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Mazumder said, the CASE project had been taken to improve air quality in the capital. But we have seen the fund of the project has been misused by making foot over bridge and traffic signals. It is not environmental work.
President for Parliamentary Committee for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury said, the main objectives of CASE project was development of air quality. But during this project the air quality has deteriorated.
In a research done by environmental researcher Atik Ahsan showed that the air quality of the capital was extremely unhealthy for 165 days in 2014. It went up to 173 days in 2015, 129 days in 2016, 185 days in 2017 and 197 days in 2018.
