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Dhaka has very high air pollution level
Nurul Huda
AIR pollution has become a matter of great concern for us in recent years. Those who are living in cities in Asian countries including Dhaka, have already realised how seriously air pollution has been poisoning life and degrading the environment. People living in major towns of Bangladesh experience the problems of air pollution in varied degrees.
Faulty vehicles, especially diesel run vehicles, brick kilns, dust from roads and construction sites and toxic fumes from industries contribute to air pollution. Industrialisation and mechanized vehicles are two major sources of air pollution in any country. Those are unavoidable accompaniments of increased economic activity of any country. The number of automobiles has been increasing in Dhaka city at the rate of at least 10 per cent annually, which has been contributing to air pollution on the one hand and traffic congestion on the other
The main pollutants from gasoline powered internal combustion engines are carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide particulates of lead compound and unbumed carbon particles. Emissions from diesel engines are smoke, carbon monoxide, unbumed carbon, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide.
Air pollution seriously affects the respiratory tract and causes irritation, headache, asthma, high blood pressure, heart ailments and even cancer. If this trend of air pollution continued, those living in major cities including the metropolis, will become exposed to these ailments and also other complications. The mental faculty of children will be adversely affected by lead pollution, which can also affect the central nervous system and cause renal damage and hypertension.
In this context, it can be recalled that the average annual deaths from air pollution-related diseases in Delhi increased to 10,000 from the level of7,500 in early 1990s as was revealed in a World Bank study in late 1990s. The level of small particles -- less than 10 micron -- present in the air was very high, which could cause severe lung cancer, according to Delhi based Centre for Science an Environment (CSE).
The air quality of Dhaka city shows that the concentration of suspended particles in the ambient air is many times higher than normal. This air, which the city dwellers and road users regularly breathe, contains lead in concentrations reportedly almost ten times higher than the government safety standard set by the Department ofEnvironment(DOE).
About 50 tons of lead are emitted into Dhaka city’s air annually and the emission reaches its highest level in dry season (November-January), revealed a study con-
ducted by scientists of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC). The density of lead in the air of Dhaka city in dry season reaches 463 nanograms, the highest in the world. The lead concentration in the polluted air of Mexico city is 383 nanograms and in Mumbai,India it is 360 nanograms per cubic metre
The Environment Conservation Act, 1995 and the Environment Conservation Rules. 1997 have been enacted by the Parliament. Under the Rules of 1997, Ambient Air Quality Standards, Vehicular Exhaust Emission Standards, River Transport(Mechanized ) Emission Standards and Gaseous Emission for Industries or Projects Standardshave been set
The Environmental Conservation Act, 1995 also contains laws as regards the protection of environmental health and control of environmental pollution. The Supreme Court in two cases held that the "right to life", which is enshrined as a fundamental right includes the right to a healthy environment
What we find is either absence or little effective cooperation of the members of the public and the concerned agencies with the Department of Environment (DOE) in implementation of laws and regulations to help reduce air pollution. DOE gets little cooperation also from the transport owners and their employees including drivers in this regard. DOE's initiatives for daily monitoring of vehicles at certain city points sometimes do not succeed due to non-availability of members of law enforcing agencies.
It may be recalled here that New Delhi in an attempt to reduce air pollution prohibited initially 20 year old vehicles from plying on city streets in late 1990s. They started phasing out 17 year old vehicles from the end of 1998. It was followed by elimination of 15 year old vehicles in 1999.
Besides registration of new auto-rickshaws with front engines was banned from 1996 and registration of old defence service and government auctioned vehicles was banned from 1998. All these steps of the New Delhi authorities have created some favourable impacts in reducing air pollution and in the process have been improving the air quality.
The pollutants in the ambient air of Delhi decreased by 4-40 per cent in case of So2, 4-13 per cent in case of NO2, 6-17 per cent in case of particulate matter, 3 per cent in case of Carbon Monoxide and 11 -60 per cent in case of lead during 1998, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based non-govemment organisation estimate showed.
In the past our attempts to prohibit plying of old vehicles in city streets failed either for political reasons or in the face of resistance by transport owners and their employees. But if oar neighboring countries can improve air quality of their cities by banning use of old vehicles and also relocating some of their polluting industries, authorities in Bangladesh can also do so.
It is time to phase out old and black smoke emitting vehicles from city roads as our right to live in healthy environment largely depends on iL Good governance helped curb air pollution in cities like Bangkok, Kolkata, Kathmandu and Lahore while weak administration caused the increase of air pollution in Dhaka and Karachi. The problem should be high on the agenda of the government as well as political parties. Let us hope that the issue gets the priority it deserves.
Nurul Huda is a Special Correspondent of BSS.