***The city itself as well as its surroundings and water resources (both surface and ground) are at a stake due to negative impact, particularly on the city's water resources . . .***
A seminar was organised by The Daily Star on 8tn June. 1995 at BUET on "Save Dhaka”. In that seminar. an expatriate dignitary commented: "One thing evident to all of us is that Dhaka is a city in crisis (terrible). A capital city that is in crisis means a country that is in crisis, a nation in crisis, because the capital is the heart of the nation.”
The above statement was very true and timely. But really what has happened since that seminar and its subsequent recommendations. Practically nothing has happened — I mean no Improvement in terms of environmental protection and mitigation of the city and its surroundings. The city itself including Its surroundings and water resources (both surface and ground) are at a stake due to negative impact particularly on the city’s water resources and certain negative Impacts have reached to irreversible situation.
The present population of the city Is 8 million within an area of 260 sq. km. out of the which 135 sq. km. is protected by embankment (through hurriedly planned, designed and implemented) and the rest 125 Sq. km. is totally unprotected and as a result we have seen what havoc has been taken place on the life and properly of the people living within this 125 sq. km. unprotected area.
Further, the overall environmental condition has deteriorated very fast particularly after creation of Bangladesh due to population pressure and uncontrolled discharge of waste from all sources viz. domestic, industry, commercial and institutional.
The disposal of industrial wastes into the environment is regulated by the Factories Act of 1965. While Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act of
1995 has detailed provision for mitigating hazards caused by industries by obtaining environmental clearance through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from DoE.
Unfortunately, the laws are there but they are not implemented — rather violated — and as a result the rivers and our sea have been facing threats because of over and improper use of agro-chemicals, disposal of untreated Industrial, domestic and municipal waste, oil spills etc.
The Daily Star of August 29. 1998 states'in its first page that "DMCH dumps all waste in roadside blns". It indicates that the biggest state-run hospital has no facility for incineration or safe disposal* of the hazardous waste. This hazardous waste is carried by the DCC trucks those make crude dumping at a place approximately 6 Km. east of the down town and this uncontrolled tipping is pollution artesian aquifer of the city, the source of approximately 98 per cent of 200 million gallons of water supplied by DWASA for the dwellers of the capital city.
The deep tube-well of DWASA at Jatrabarl which is approximately 3 Km. west of the crude dumping area of DCC has been found to contain appreciable quantity of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), and another well water of DWASA at Hazaribag area has been found to contain chromium and as well as BOD. COD.
According to the present population of 8 million within the city — approximately 600 tonnes of BOD are produced dally out of which only 120 tonnes are received through DWASA's iegal/illegal connections for treatment, but unfortunately only 50 per cent of the quantity is reached to the
treatment plant of DWASA and the rest are lost through broken pipes while pumping causing anther source of environmental degradation. Or in other words only 10 per cent of the generated daily domestic waste is treated and the rest 90 per cent of the domestic waste is ultimately discharged to our rivers through the khals and thereby polluting our surface water sources.
The uncontrolled discharge of industrial wastes, both point and non-point sources are even more dangerous because many of the effluents contain heavy metals and surface water containing heavy metals cannot be treated by conventional treatment methods rather needs sophisticated treatment method which we do not have at present nor available in the proposed treatment plant at Saidabad of DWASA.
The industrialists area making millions at the cost of our environment, property and life and this must be arrested forth with by implementation of the Environmental Conservation Law of DoE. The industries must have their own arrangement of pre-treatment prior to discharge of the effluent into the receiving body of water to an acceptable level as per DoE regulations.
Immediate steps are also necessary for taking care of domestic sewage for which DWASA needs assistance in order to implement its short-term and as well as long-term programmes through the year 1999 up to the year 2020 with the object of treating 90 per cent of the domestic and industrial waste by the year 2020 in phases.
The estimated cost is approximately 1.8 billion dollars including physical and financial contingencies spread over a period of 1999 through the year 2020.