THE High Court recently blasted the government for not taking sufficient measures to control the air pollution in Dhaka and its surrounding areas even after repeated directives. The situation has become awful because of air pollution. The court observed that no statement is effective rather than coherent steps to bring the air pollution under control.
To prevent pollution, the court directed the authorities to demolish all illegal brick kilns in Dhaka and its surrounding districts — Gazipur, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Munshiganj — in 15 days as the brick kilns are considered to be one of the three main sources of air pollution. The court ordered the DoE and the districts’ deputy commissioners to implement the directive without any failure and submit separate reports before the bench after demolishing the illegal structures.
We know the air quality in Dhaka rated the worst in the world at different times in recent years. On February 9 this year, Dhaka’s air was rated as the world’s second-most polluted. Due to long exposure to dust and polluted air, people develop diseases like Asthma, COPD, Bronchitis, and Bronchiectasis. Currently, the country has 85 lakh patients suffering from Asthma, and almost 75 lakh patients suffering from Bronchitis and COPD.
We can control pollution to a huge extent by using good quality lubricant and fuel for our vehicles, examining their fitness regularly, keeping construction materials covered, planting more and more trees around our homes, checking the continuous digging of roads on both personal and government level, and using environmentally-friendly ways in mills and factories. The brick estate owners should introduce environment-friendly brick production, while DoE should enforce the regulations.
We urge the government, realtors, developers and brick kiln owners to introduce modern brick manufacturing systems. The DoE should be harsh enough to enforce environmental laws against all perpetrators. If we fail to control air pollution, we must admit its impact on our health and life.
