Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said Dhaka is now not a liveable city, as it has no effective waste management system.

The minister said this while he was speaking at the launching of a book titled “Solid and hazardous waste management” at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Nahid said achieving the millennium development goals (MDG) in health sector would be hampered due

to the poor waste management.

“In our student life we saw the crystal clear water of the rivers Shitalakkhya and Buriganga. But now it is virtually impossible to go near water of the Buriganga due to stench,” he said.

The book, written by Buet Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr M Habibur Rahman and Associate Prof of Ahsanullah Science and Technology University Dr Abdullah Al Muyeed, consists of four parts and 11 chapters.

Prof Habibur said the book would help study environment engineering

and urban engineering as well as help professionals working in the field of waste management and sanitation.

The book mentions different ways of collecting and disposing of waste, he said.

He said the book will help achieve the MDG on sanitation and the government's commitment to ensure sanitation for all within 2013.

The book, published by International Training Network of Buet, is aimed at including water supply and sanitation in the curriculum of environment engineering.