Environmental pollution may create disaster and state of emergency

Environmental pollution is as old as the civilization itself. It has become a major concern in the last few decades. It is the by-product of the development of civilization and in fact a price for the progress. It is more prone in case of Bangladesh. Air pollution of Bangladesh is mainly caused by the vehicle emission, industrial discharge and burning of fossil fuel.

The water resource of Bangladesh becomes a major health hazard due to arsenic contamination, inadequate solid waste and industrial effluent management. Necessary steps are to be taken to protect the environment for our own existence. This article provides an overview of different environmental problems of Bangladesh and discusses the ways to improve it.

Pollution has become the first enemy of the mankind. Industrial revolution of 19th century led to environmental disaster. The whole world is now more afraid of pollution rather than nuclear blast. Technological advancement has brought revolutionary changes in life style and national economy with overwhelming power over nature. The protection of environment has become a major issue around the global for the well-being of the people and economic development. The present environmental condition of Bangladesh is not at all equilibrium.

Severe air, water and noise pollution are threatening human health, ecosystems and economic growth of Bangladesh. Air pollution caused due to increasing population, burning fossil fuels, industrialization and associated motorization. The water pollution caused due to industrialization. The under ground water of Bangladesh has been polluted due to arsenic.

The inhabitants of major cities of Bangladesh are also exposed to high level of noise pollution. Environmental degradation of Bangladesh is also caused due to poverty, over-population and lack of awareness on the subject. It is manifested by deforestation, destruction of wetlands, soil erosion and natural calamities. Few steps have been taken by the government to improve the environmental degradation and pollution control.

It is the lower strata of society that is bearing the brunt of the consequences of the environmental havoc being wreaked by unplanned urbanisation. For instance, in Dhaka, heavy metal-contaminated sites are mostly located in poorer neighbourhoods-making the poor extremely vulnerable to lead contamination.

This can lead to IQ loss in children and increases the risk of miscarriages and stillbirths for pregnant women. The fact that low-income groups are disproportionately faced with many such deadly health risks has repeatedly been highlighted by researchers over the years but sadly very little has been done to address these concerns. Urban slums-a modern-day paradox of cities' growth-are mushrooming and so is their population.

According to World Bank, the latter is growing at double the average urban rate, which means that the situation will only get worse if the myriad issues affecting slum dwellers' living conditions continue to be neglected. Lack of basic hygiene and sanitation and clean drinking water, for instance, are some of the most pressing issues in Dhaka's slums.

A study conducted early last year came up with this startling finding: water samples collected by slum dwellers from the last delivery point had 99 percent faecal contamination. There are many reasons for this including a network of ageing damaged underground pipelines, lack of waste disposal mechanisms and a poorly managed sewerage system. This is perhaps what we would call unplanned urbanisation at its worst.

Environmental degradation is one of the unfortunate by-products of 21st-century urbanisation and industrialisation. And so aspirations of higher economic growth must be based on a smart urban development model that takes into account environmental concerns. In the context of Bangladesh, this would require empowering and reforming institutions at the national level.

One of the many recommendations made in the World Bank report is reforming the Department of Environment and equipping it with adequate resources and skilled staff in order to respond effectively to environmental issues. Another oft-repeated point made in regard to urban planning and environmental management in Bangladesh is the need to decentralise. This cannot be highlighted enough.

Decentralising to division and district levels is the need of the hour so that the areas with the highest levels of pollution can be prioritised. Similarly, a lack of local-level urban planning partially explains why unplanned urbanisation in the country has spiralled out of control. Departmental and ministerial coordination is yet another longstanding problem that just cannot seem to be solved.

This not only hampers implementation of existing plans but also leads to confusion and gives leeway to departments and agencies to play the blame game and evade accountability-as is the case every time the city becomes inundated after minutes of rainfall and Wasa and Dhaka city corporations keep shifting the responsibility to one another.

The rise of chronic diseases related to environmental hazards has created major societal problems, limiting economic advancement and reducing human welfare. In 2015, 67% of deaths in Bangladesh were attributable to non-communicable diseases and their prevalence is an increasing burden on the country. This situation is unsustainable, especially as Bangladesh's population ages and continues to increase.

Bangladesh has one of the world's worst environmental and lifestyle risk profiles, characterized by severe air and water pollution, nutritional disorders, and risk behaviors associated with a "Western" lifestyle, such as unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. These social, environmental, and behavioral risk factors share antecedents and causes, amplify each other's effects, and depend on one another in complex ways. Importantly, they can also exert different effects in varying contexts such as across rural, urban, and slum settings.

The environment of the country is in dire shape! According to a World Bank climate report, climate change in the future will have a negative impact on Bangladesh. According to a US-based research firm, Bangladesh is currently ranked 2nd in the world in terms of environmental pollution. In our country, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and noise pollution this kind of other environmental pollution has made public life miserable.

One of the reasons for this is the misuse of natural resources, unplanned industrialization such as the use of oil, gas and coal. Poisonous gas emissions from mill factories and bricks, where waste and garbage disposal and excreta disposal are also the main causes of environmental pollution.

Considering all these harmful reactions of lead, the government has taken the decision to import lead-free petrol and this decision has been in effect since 1999. According to a recent survey by the Bangladesh Nuclear Power Station and Eastern Refinery Limited, gasoline distributed from petrol pumps in the country is now completely free of lead.

It has been noticed that the VOC in Dhaka city is beyond the acceptable range, some of which are responsible for the cause of cancer. Smoke emitted from two-stroke automobiles in Dhaka has been found to be 4 to 7 times more VOC than the acceptable range.

The severe environmental impact on Dhaka and other cities cannot simply be passed off as a result of rural-to-urban migration. It is a direct consequence of thoughtless urbanisation. The lack of accountability and transparency in the way many of the existing plans are being implemented-if at all-continue to be a major thorn in our side.

This time policymakers must understand that urbanisation, growth and the liveability of a city are not mutually exclusive, and thus environmental degradation cannot simply be swept aside or justified as an "inevitable" by-product of growth. The slow environmental destruction we are witnessing today is the consequence of a failure to plan for and execute a vision of a liveable city.


The writer is a columnist
and researcher