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Two decades on, Barishal yet to get modern waste plant
SUSHANTA GHOSH, Barishal
The Barishal City Corporation, established in 2002, has yet to develop a modern waste management system for the tonnes of garbage generated in the city even after two decades of establishment.
Although BCC had proposed a project for setting up a modern waste management plant with incineration facilities, it later got cancelled in the face of opposition from local residents.
As a result, the city relies on the six-acre Kawnia Puranpara dumping station, where sanitation workers dump garbage daily using traditional landfill methods.
However, this site, acquired in 2004, is now overwhelmed with waste and can barely accommodate more.
Garbage often spills over near the dumping ground, causing problems for residents and polluting the nearby Sapania canal, which eventually connects to the Kirtankhola river.
Waste is also frequently left on roadsides and near dustbins in the city’s 30 wards for days before being removed by BCC workers.
According to BCC sources, about 100 tonnes of waste are generated daily in the city with a 58 sq km area and around six lakh residents. On Eid days and special occasions, the volume goes up considerably.
More than 900 permanent and temporary staff are engaged in BCC’s waste management activities, while 18 trucks and 220 box vans are being used for garbage transportation.
Masudur Rahman, an environmental activist, said the open dumping at Puranpara has made the area uninhabitable, forcing many residents to relocate.
Rafiqul Alam, divisional coordinator (Barishal) of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, said garbage, including hazardous and medical waste, is dumped in open dustbins at over 150 spots, posing health risks and worsening environmental pollution.
The Puranpara landfill no longer can accommodate more waste. It has become urgent for BCC to find an alternative and move for a modern waste management system, he added.
“It is viable to build a clean city by initiating a modern waste management plant that can produce fertiliser from bio-degradable wastes and also generate electricity by incinerating other wastes. However, the officials concerned seen to be reluctant to this end,” he also said.
Lincoln Bain, coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association in Barishal, echoed him.
Mohammad Yunus Mia, BCC’s sanitation officer, said workers collect waste from the 30 wards at night using box vans, temporarily store it by the roadside, and later transport it to two secondary transfer stations (STS).
Plans are underway to construct 13 more STS facilities and add 300 new dustbins to improve operations, he added.
Contacted, BCC secretary Masuma Akhter said they had sent a proposal to the Local Government Department in February 2021 for final approval for setting up a waste-to-energy plant by incinerating wastes, and a three-acre land was acquired in Lamchhari area to this end.
“However, the proposal was turned down in September last year over objections from the local residents. Now we are looking for government land elsewhere to materialise this project,” she added.