Tuesday | 14 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Tuesday | 14 January 2025 | Epaper

Dust pollution: A great concern for megacity Dhaka  

Published : Tuesday, 10 December, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 622
MIR MOSHARREF HOSSAIN PAKBIR
The environment of our beautiful capital city of Dhaka has become a major worry for the citizens amid heavy development as a megacity. The presence of dust particles in the air in many parts of the city prevents people from breathing easily. Even while this issue is present all year round, it becomes particularly troublesome during the winter or dry season. Dust pollution in Dhaka is caused by variety of sources including irresponsibility and mismanagement of the municipalities, exposed building materials, brick kilns, publicly left-out drain sludge, and unplanned development projects. The air quality is terrible not just in Dhaka but in every major city in the nation and this scenario calls for immediate actions.

On the list of cities with the worst air quality, Dhaka, the congested capital of Bangladesh, was the worst city in the world in terms of Air Quality Indexes (AQIs) on 4 days among the first 10 days of December and it remained among top 10 worst cities on other 6 days. Dhaka had maintained top position in terms of worst air quality on several consecutive days for last few years, which is really alarming for its dwellers, especially the children. This scenario is caused by serious dust pollution. 

The term 'dust pollution' describes the presence of airborne particles such as PM2.5 to PM10 micrograms that deteriorate air quality and have a serious negative impact on human health. According to the 2018 World Bank Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) report, air pollution causes 46,000 fatalities in Bangladesh each year. PM2.5 was classified as a 'G-1 carcinogen' by the International Cancer Agency and the World Health Organization (WHO). Along with health risks that need to be monitored and controlled, dust pollution may also harm the environment and the economy.

In order to address the problem of urban air pollution, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change, with support from the World Bank, approved a project called Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE). To examine the quality of the air, they have 11 Continuous Air Quality monitoring sites spread out around the nation. These stations analyze the air pollutants in these cities. The AQI, an indicator used to measure daily air quality, tells people how clean or polluted a city's air is and what health risks may be linked to it. Dhaka's air quality often deteriorates throughout the winter and becomes comparatively better during the monsoon season.

The AQI indicates that none of the Bangladeshi cities under observation have acceptable air quality. To understand the measurement, air quality is deemed 'moderate' when the AQI value is between 50 and 100, when typically, sensitive people should limit extended outdoor activities. Between 101 and 150, the air quality is deemed 'unhealthy for sensitive groups.' When it is between 150 and 200, it is termed 'unhealthy', between 201 and 300, 'very unhealthy', and if it is over 300, it is deemed 'hazardous', posing significant health risks to residents. Dhaka's air quality is quite harmful, with often an AQI index of over 300. Furthermore, during the dry season, Dhaka's dust pollution levels are about three times greater than what is allowed.

Dhaka's dust pollution is caused by a number of factors. The primary cause is this city's uncontrolled growth. Roads are excavated for gas, power, water, and other utility projects all year round. In Bangladesh, these projects take longer than in any other nation in the globe. Furthermore, due to lack of coordination, one road is excavated many times a year. Because of their poor structure, roads are prone to damage and dust and requires regular repairs.

Moreover, the irresponsibility and mismanagement of the municipalities is strongly pushing us to become the worst city in terms of dust and air pollution. They fail in clearing the wastes from open spaces. The footpaths of Dhaka city are mostly occupied by illegal vendors, who severely produce dust and other wastes. But the municipalities or city corporations do not take any actions against these vendors as well as do not take initiative to clean or water those footpaths. 
Moreover, the megaprojects intended for the development create immense dust as we have seen during construction of elevated expressway and metro rail. In addition, a lot of dust is produced by the construction of several residential and commercial structures all around the city.
Additionally, waste is disposed away on the side of the road once the drains have been cleaned. Unhealthy air is caused by the microorganism that is present in that waste. Dust pollution is also resulted from the open transportation of building supplies such bricks, sand, cement, and brick chips. According to the Department of Environment, more than 4,500 brick kilns in and around Dhaka are majorly polluting the city's air. Most importantly, as vehicles from all corners of Bangladesh passes through Dhaka city, they create huge dust as well as other pollutions.

One of the main causes of a number of acute and long-term health issues is dust pollution. Among the typical health risks, it causes headaches, high fevers, coughing, sneezing, and eye discomfort. Lung cancer, asthma, bronchitis, TB, kidney damage, high blood pressure, birth defects, heart attacks, liver issues, dermatitis, pneumonia, and other serious illnesses are also brought on by it. We cannot overlook its detrimental impact on Dhaka residents' mental health and children's cognitive performance.

The Environment Conservation Act of 1995, a law pertaining to the environment, is ineffective in addressing dust pollution. Therefore, we must act quickly to save the people of Dhaka from this crisis. Firstly, through educational campaign, the government must educate every citizen about the negative consequences of dust pollution. New legislations should be passed in addition to the current ones, particularly to encourage the use of contemporary building methods that limit the spread of dust at residential and commercial construction sites. 

No building supplies should be stored in an open area or driven about in an open vehicle. Modern technology should also be used in the brick kilns. Rather than concentration in one area, the brick kilns should be moved to various, less populated places. Megaprojects should also use contemporary construction methods. There are existent rules associated with the megaprojects to contain dust spread but the municipalities must ensure the monitoring. Additionally, these tasks ought to be finished as quickly as possible. 

The function of the city corporations and municipalities is significant. To prevent dust from spreading, they should make plans to water the construction sites of these large-scale projects every day. Additionally, they have to make sure that trash and drain waste are promptly removed from the streets and transported to designated disposal locations. They must ensure that, vendors are not allowed to place their shops on the footpaths and even if they do, they should be allocated a particular time and the vendors as well as the municipalities should take responsibility to clean the footpaths after the allowed business hours. To avoid excavating the roads more than once a year, the utility providers and the roads administrators should coordinate their efforts and adopt proactive maintenance coordinating with various stakeholders. 

Most importantly, as the dust pollution as well as air pollution scenario in Dhaka turns extreme in the dry season, the interim government must instruct the relevant authorities to water every road of the capital every day. The city corporations and WASA can combinedly take this responsibility. We can channel water from the nearest water bodies like; rivers, canals, lakes or ponds to water the roads and open spaces at both residential and commercial areas. This is not a costly initiative and with proper and honest implementation, it can bring great result to control the dust pollution of Dhaka city as well as of other major cities.

Today, the environment is a major problem, particularly for a metropolis like Dhaka. Environment, forest, and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has long been a trailblazing environmentalist. As a citizen of Dhaka if she declares a consequential plan of 10 days each to control dust pollution of Dhaka, the city can rank after 10 worst city in terms of air quality within the first 10 days, then can rank after 15 within the next 10 days and after 20 within the following 10 days. Small and timely initiatives of the adviser can really turn Dhaka's air breathable.

As the hub of our nation's growth, this metropolis is nonetheless in grave danger of going extinct. This city's survival depends on reducing dust pollution to enhance air quality, and we hope the interim government will act promptly in this respect, especially considering the current dry season. As it will not only make Dhaka livable but also persuade the populace that the interim government is committed to making significant improvement in people's quality of life. We are really looking forward to breathe clean air in our cherished capital Dhaka.

The writer is Chief Editor at Mohammadi News Agency (MNA) and Editor at Kishore Bangla


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