Home ›› 16 Feb 2023 ›› Front
Thermal power plants contribute to air pollution and the ones in Bangladesh are not following emission standards, experts have said.
They said Bangladesh is making strides in infrastructure development by implementing various mega projects but the country’s poor air quality often makes global headlines.
Bangladesh’s air pollution level is increasing day by day alarmingly and Dhaka city is repeatedly ranked among the most polluted cities in the world, they told a seminar titled “Rethinking emission standards of thermal power plants in Bangladesh” on Wednesday. The Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) arranged the seminar in the auditorium of Stamford University Bangladesh.
According to experts, the number of deaths and premature deaths due to exposure to polluted air is increasing in the country. They said the authorities concerned need to take urgent action in order to control the terrible air pollution levels in the country.
Besides, they said all development should be carried out considering public health while environmental aspects and health risks should be taken into consideration when developmental projects are undertaken.
“We need to change the philosophy of development to protect the environment and the country from the menace of air pollution,” Prof Dr Adil Mohammed Khan, a faculty member in the urban and regional planning department at Jahangirnagar University, said.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, spoke as the chief guest at the event chaired by Prof Dr Moniruzzaman, vice-chancellor of Stamford University Bangladesh. Lauri Millyvirta, co-founder and lead analyst of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Finland, joined the seminar online.
Prof Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, founding director of CAPS and chairman of the environmental science department at Stamford University Bangladesh, presented the keynote. He said no country in the world is supporting thermal power plants as environment-friendly.
“However, such plants are being promoted in our country. Doing so instead of clean and renewable energy is not sustainable development,” he said.
In his speech, Saber said air pollution-related diseases kill more people in a year than Covid-19 did in three years. “Air pollution has three times the impact of all pollutants. Therefore, considering public health is necessary for all development.”
He further said foreigners do research according to their interests and they maintain that first. “All our development research needs to be done by our local researchers.”
Talking about indoor air pollution, Saber said air pollution occurs through various activities. “When publishing air pollution data, it is important to publish indoor and outdoor data separately.”
Dr Adil, also the executive director of the Institute for Planning and Development, said the environmental impact assessment of the development projects in the country is flawed.
No thermal power plant should be built in any environmentally-hazardous area, he added.
Echoing him, Saber said pollution has to be taken into consideration while planning the installation of power plants because all development is for people.
Public health should be taken into consideration first, he stressed.
Lawmaker Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary said the economic value of the mega projects being implemented in the country needs to be determined considering their health impacts. “We should see all development with green eyes. Projects that are not environment-friendly should be scrapped.”
Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said, “We think green energy and energy security are conflicting matters. Our coasts are submerging due to carbon emission. However, we are also emitting carbon and raising the demand for compensation in various forums.”
He said along with the weather report, air pollution news should be published daily in the media.
