The nations of the world, including Bangladesh, observed the World Environment Day on Sunday in the usual manner which is to say by taking out supplements and spacious advertisements in the newspapers, statements made to the press apd holding seminafs on the subject. This, of coqrse, Is better than nothing. And yet, specially for Bangladesh, this leaves a trail of things to be done before the day can take on any true significance.

What makes the global approach very hard to materialise works as a double sword. Industrialised nations love to preach environment mania but continue to pollute the whole planet so much in any ordinary year as has not been done in the billions of years prior to the rise of the factory chimney and the invention of the internal combustion machine. Trading nations wouldn't buy the insincere behests conle from the rich ones if Qnly because they do not want to trail anymore and are bent on development overdrive no matter how that takes a toll of the environment.

What are now the main challenges to world environment? Heating up of the biosphere, denudation of the rain forests as also the total green wealth of the planet and the widening ozone hole are the three most formidable ones. Soon enough scarcity of sweet water and unmanageability of garbage-dumping would gain in size to Join the three. How can we in Bangladesh help generate a global endeavour that can successfully take on these problems? Not in any great measure, we are sure. Nevertheless, we very much have our own and special bit to do, first in ensuring that we do not contribute to the worsening of the global environmental situation and secondly, to go vigorously for positive things like afforestation and corrective measures to curtail our wasteful and Ignorant ways about exploiting nature.

It is Ironic that while our state sanctifies the Environment Day as a national priority day the track-record on pollution control here has been next to nothing. The Buriganga is already dead, and for six days a week the mornings are suffocated in Dhaka by thick palls of smoke. Smog should have been the last thing to visit this LDC. Thanks to government callousness, lakhs of tons of trees are still fuelling the brick fields.

The worst irony of the day that was yesterday is that till now not one action has been taken against smoking vehicles. And there is no sign yet of any meaningful action in this urgent matter more serious than the entreaties published as expensive advertisements in newspapers and on the television. The government is at best doing lipservice to the cause of environment.