Home ›› 05 Jan 2022 ›› Editorial
Environmental pollution has a great impact on human health, ecosystems, and financial development. Public health experts agree that environmental risks constitute 25 per cent of the burden of diseases. Peoples do not have adequate knowledge about the causes and consequences of environmental problems. More than half of the global premature deaths occur due to high air pollution in South Asian countries, especially in India, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc. The environmental degradation, such as air, water, land, and noise pollution, poses a danger to human health, ecosystems, and financial development. Rapid industrialization in developing countries has led to the emission of a range of toxic effluents directly into the soil, air, and water. Pollution badly affects the GDP growth of developing countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Laos, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Zambia, at national and local levels. These nations suffer from severe contamination annually, causing ill health, death, and disabilities in millions of people, as their economies largely depend on natural resources.
Urbanization, economic growth, motorized transport industrial sites are some of the driving forces behind environmental pollution noise exposure and health effects. Concentration of people in urban growth centers simultaneously increase the concentration of domestic and industrial activities that lead to pollution problem for urban and its surrounding areas.
Being situated in a developing country, Dhaka, the capital and major city of Bangladesh, is one of the most contaminated cities in this nation and the third most contaminated city in the world. Rapid urbanization and uncontrolled population growth create mismanagement of urban services and general environmental quality
deterioration. More than 7 million people live in Dhaka, with a density of 49,182 people per sq. km. in a total area of 143 sq. km.
The rapid rate of urbanization and the enormous demands on urban utility services, waste disposal, transports, social services, etc. generates tremendous pressure on the geo-environment. The unplanned construction of roads, railways, flyovers, and buildings causes air pollution by spreading road dust and soil dust in the atmosphere. Highly polluted air reduces the city’s economic growth and poses severe health issues.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, which ranked Dhaka as the fourth most polluted city with one of the lowest quality air globally and an index value of 195. According to the 2019 World Air Quality Report, Dhaka has the second-highest average annual PM2.5 concentrations (_g/m3) in the air. The city’s rivers are getting polluted due to industrial and domestic activities, sewerage, medical waste, municipal waste, discharge of toxic chemicals, etc. The soil pollution issue is not recognized correctly and ignored in various policy documents. Moreover, noise pollution is adversely affecting the urban environment and is causing a severe health hazard for the city dwellers.
Bangladesh is classic example of all the above characteristics of unplanned urbanization. Rapidly growing urban areas in Bangladesh is facing:
(1) Very bad ambient air and water quality.
(2) High incidence (more than 27 per cent) of the population living in extreme poverty
(3) Substandard housing conditions resulting from high land prices, insecurity of tenure, and lack of loan finance
(4) Non-availability of piped water in more than 80 per cent of the households.
In a recent study by a donor agency, a total of 400 respondents from 10 zones of Dhaka City Corporation, Bangladesh, were interviewed as a case study via a semi-structured questionnaire survey. The results revealed that only 39.0 per cent of respondents had explicit knowledge about environmental pollution. Air pollution was identified by 73.8 per cent, noise pollution by 63.0 per cent, water pollution by 55.2 per cent, and soil pollution by only 6.5 per cent of respondents in their surroundings. Automobiles, domestic activities, municipal garbage, and vehicle horns are significant sources of environmental pollutions. Around 49.0 per cent of the respondents did not understand the effectiveness of currently conducted environmental programmes.
The respondent in the study could identify through daily observation. Their answers revealed that air pollution was recognized by 73.8 per cent of respondents, noise pollution by 63.0 per cent, water pollution by 55.2 per cent, soil pollution by 6.5 per cent, and other pollution by 2.0 per cent
of people.
The demographic characteristics, causes of environmental pollution, and the impact of the sources of water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, and noise pollution were presented in tabular and graphical form for better understanding. The results showed that 39.0 per cent of the respondents had explicit knowledge about environmental pollution, while 73.8 per cent had explicit knowledge about air pollution, 63.0 per cent about noise pollution, 55.2 per cent about water pollution, and 6.5 per cent about soil pollution. It is interesting to note that about 49.0 per cent of the respondents did not understand the currently conducted environmental programmes’ effectiveness. The outcomes of the study are also similar to the pollution status of China, India, and Pakistan.
In order to overcome environmental pollution some strategies and policies at the local, institutional, and national levels need to be adopted. The rural-urban migration at the national level should be discouraged through creation of job opportunities in the rural areas. All the public amenities may be decentralised from Dhaka and other major cities to encourage citizens to live in district towns and rural areas. Authorities have to generate employment opportunities in rural areas, using modern technology in agriculture, and establishing better healthcare centres and educational institutions all over the country. The RMG industries may be relocated outside the Dhaka city by providing transportation, utilities and livable townships in other
suitable locations.
Relevant authorities may form environmental committee at the local level: Every city ward authority can create an environmental committee that directly discusses environmental information with the local people through leaflets, workshops, seminars, cleaning programs, etc. The waste management may be regulate for disposal, storage and arrange for conversion to fertilizer and energy from waste. A mandatory environmental awareness-related subject can be introduced in primary schools, where children will practice how to use resources and to clean their surrounding environments.
Environmental information based on documentaries, movies, advertisements, and drama can be made and shown on television and shared on social media, including YouTube, for mass awareness. Eco-friendly vehicles may be promoted with favorable taxation policy to reduce air and sound hazards. Building or construction sites must have a solid fence during construction. Road pavement, regular washing, cleaning, and water spraying, particularly in the dry season, can reduce the road’s dust. A huge number of local variety of trees inside and surrounding schools, parks, hospitals, markets, and recreational places can control noise pollution.
Government may take up the three Rs (reuse, reduce, and recycle) of resources such as water and other waste from the environment and save money. Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and debris can help to build a sustainable environment for future
generations.
People should be encouraged to mend and maintain their daily essential products and recycle them. Before starting any development works, the proper authority must assess the environmental effects. A skilled workforce should be recruited in the Department of Environment, Dhaka, Bangladesh, for its early evaluation process and surveillance. Another important aspect environment issue is that people ignore the existing environmental laws of this country.
The writer is a legal economist. He can be contacted at mssiddiqui2035@gmail.com
