The World Environment Day passed yesterday with some government functions, a seminar or two and sonie advertisements in the newspapers. It is turning into dead rituals soon after its birth. But environment, as well for Bangladesh as for the whole planet, is a burning problem — the earth's liveability being reducea in huge irreversible measures every moment of our existence.

The alarms that went out decades back about the dangers of a degrading earth have shown perceptible result in even an inept Bangladesh going for planned and social forestry with some efficacy. But has the dooms message caught on the perception of our general masses? Or even the literate ones? No, it hasn't dawned even on our governmental and political leadership as a whole, or our bureaucracy who should be more knowledgeable, that every day we, by deliberate and unconscionable action, are dangerously stripping our whole land of all that sustains life. The one telltale evidence of the Himalayan indifference to and abysmal ignorance of the seriousness of the problem lies in our government's, as well as society's, refusal to address the problem of atmospheric pollution through toxic emissions of motorised vehicles. The tragedy is that no government, to date, has even taken a convincing stand on this and gone about mounting an effective curbing campaign.

It is difficult to believe they don’t know the hazards. What then? Rivers are dying by their dozens, forests are fast approaching the vanishing point, town skies are heavy with smog from early morning. And business goes as usual- in Bangladesh. This foolishness must stop. For our existence's sake, our towns must not be let to smoke.