Green activists have alleged that many institutions are constructing buildings and infrastructure in Dhaka city and other parts of the country violating the Air Pollution Control Rules. As a result, the construction contributes to the air pollution.
Against this backdrop, the green activists called upon the citizens to file complaints with the Department of Environment (DOE) and other authorities concerned regularly in order to prevent air pollution. Regular filing of complaints will play a role in preventing air pollution, they said.
They made the call at a workshop titled ‘Youth Actions to Combat Air Pollution and Climate Change Impacts’ at the auditorium of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro in the capital on Saturday (September 14).
Center for Law and Policy Affairs (CLPA) and Green Force jointly arranged the event. Representatives from different universities and organisations took part in the workshop.
It was addressed, among others, by Professor Dr. Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, chairman of the Department of Environmental Science at Stamford University Bangladesh and founding chairman of Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS); Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam, secretary of CLPA; Mesbah Uddin Ahmed Sumon, general secretary of Save the Environment Movement (POBA) and coordinator of Green Force, Professor Dr AFM Sarwar, an expert on public health; and Aminul Islam Bakul of CLPA.
The speakers said that in 2022, Bangladesh has been ranked first among the countries with the most polluted air in the world in the ‘Air Visual’ report of the Global Air Quality Monitoring Organisation. The rapid urbanization, uncontrolled industrialisation and unplanned construction activities are among the main sources of air pollution in the country. This pollution is not only affecting the public health but also the economy of the country, they added.
The speakers also said that although every infrastructure has the budget for environmental protection, it is not spent. There is a lot of air pollution due to not covering the project infrastructure with soil, sand, cement and other dust generating materials. The DoE should take action against all these institutions. Along with this, it is important to take the initiative of the DoE to involve the citizens in monitoring the violation of the law, they opined.
