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  • Plastic microparticles threaten unique Galapagos fauna

    Plastic microparticles threaten unique Galapagos fauna

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: The Scenic Oceanside beaches and marinas are now heaped in washed up or thrown out plastic from commuters on the beach. The Galapagos seems like an industrial wasteland filled with plastic, metal, and a host of trash strewn across the shores. This is indicative of how callous the overall process of waste management in the area has been. Yet, underneath that, there is a threat to the inhabitants of the area be it human and fauna. The microparticles from the waste, especially ones from the plastic pose significant damages.

    The microparticles from plastic washing up on the shores have come from nearby countries. The archipelago in the pacific is 600 miles west of Ecuador. The waste from nearby countries or in some degree continents washes up on the shores. The microparticle discharge from these plastic wastes can find their way into the stomachs of unsuspecting fauna like the Iguana, tortoise, birds. These can become fatal and cause deaths of the natural inhabitants. Researchers from the Galapagos National Park have said that the particles might end up in the food of the humans as well. With a population of 25000, that risk might be dire than the words spell them out to be.

    Galapagos is also a heritage site according to Unesco and more efforts from the authorities of surrounding South American countries are expected as the majority of the waste pertains to these countries. Park Rangers and volunteers with their gloves and sacks are the only defense against the rampant waste that faces the Galapagos islands. Most of the plastic washing up has been Chinese Products ranging from plastic shampoo bottles to food containers to even unknown objects that look like adult toys. 

    The locals and the volunteers have made an appeal to the surrounding authorities. In recent years of 2018 and 2019, the waste has accumulated to over 6.5 tons with no signs of the number dropping anytime soon. Authorities and International bodies have to come together and address the situation. Rare species of fauna including the marine Iguana depend on the food in algae, insects, and small crabs. The particles mixed in the ocean endanger their existence at a fatal level. Soon, all species including humans in the Galapagos may be at danger if no steps are taken.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

    Photo Courtesy: Bangkok Post

  • Demerits of the Generator on the Environment

    Demerits of the Generator on the Environment

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: In many areas of Bangladesh, there are lots of localities that still suffer from power outages and load sheddings. To counter that, Generators are used to make sure that the power stays uninterrupted throughout the power outage period. But the generator usage has a lot of perils that threaten the normal living quality of the citizens. 

    Many areas like Mirpur, Farmgate, Jatrabari, Kamrangirchor and some areas where industrial production is prevalent; have been suffering from the effects of the generator smoke. The populace surrounding factory areas have complained about the black smoke that comes out of the chimneys and exhausts. 

    The Generator usage creates residual particulate matter that gets mixed with the environment. Researchers in a recent study by the Center For Science and Development, based in Delhi, provided levels of PM2.5 and PM10 rises 10% to 30% in such areas where the diesel generators are in use. According to Environmentalist Dr. Lelin Chowdhury, the particulates can cause serious illnesses in people that can even lead to death. 

    Dhaka has been ranked second in the World Health Organization air pollution index. In daily pollution indexes, Delhi and Dhaka had been trading places in first and second places in recent times. Bangladesh is also the seventh most vulnerable country to be affected by climate change. 

    Every year more or less 15000 people have been affected by air pollution due to air pollution. The top 10 diseases that affect people most and lead to deaths have 5 respiratory-related illnesses which all have an origin in air pollution. The five diseases are lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory tract infections, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Children suffer from asthma-related problems more often than not. 

    The Poribesh Bachao Andolon initiative has time and again pressed on the importance of getting rid of the sources of air pollution. Its Chairman Abu Naser Khan has opined that any fossil fuel has the potential to cause air pollution. “Getting to the bottom of the usage of such fuels and decreasing uses should be a top priority” adds Abu Naser. 

    The Urban Areas in Bangladesh are being consistently polluted by generator smoke and decreasing their use is a must for us to ensure better living standards and save lives.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

    Featured Image Courtesy: The Guardian

  • 14 Thousands Square kilometer Area will Disappear

    14 Thousands Square kilometer Area will Disappear

    Ashik Rahman: 14 thousand square kilometers of the Indian subcontinent will disappear for one meter of sea level increases. And six meters increases will absorb the coastal area of ​​60 thousand square kilometers for global warming matter.

    Increasing global warming greenhouse effect’s, Sea levels if the water level rises by one meter. The Indian subcontinent coastal area about 14 km from the sea fishes are very vulnerable. A group of scientists in the study was asked to report on. The way they have been attributed to climate change.

    Sea level will rise because of sea temperatures increase, glaciers, and ice neck and ice memoranda down. Numerous reports warned that one-meter water level increases of 48 ecoregions that crash is 18 which is Krishna, godabari badabanera quarter. Destroying UNESCO World Heritage area, Sundarbans and Gujarat saltwater of the shore half. The level of the six-meter does lead to the drowning that is at risk of 7 ecoregions.

    The sea level of one meter increases the damage of the species could not appear. But drowning is seven protected areas including Orisara inside the cell, Silika Lake, Point kayalimeyara Island, Interview Island, lothiyana Island, and the sajanekhali. This disaster will be lost in the hundreds of rare species those are living in down the coast ecosystem operation. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea coast have been saved and the unsaved biodiversity of the area in endanger.

    Sea level rises if the country’s risk the most, the top has a geographically from the low lying terrain Bangladesh. Most vulnerable in the face of the cit, Global banks, according to water level 14 centimeters increases for two people endanger those who live in the 700 kilometers long low lying coastal areas. Climate change impacts will be 47 million dollars to prevent the government of Bangladesh. It has two major projects, which is a coastal area and builds a thicker lawn.
    The main cause of global warming, fossil fuels produce carbon-die-oxide and greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gas increases the temperature of the earth’s surface which is a major global warming threat.

    Photo Courtesy: CBS News

  • Dhaka Water War

    Dhaka Water War

    Fahmida Sattar: Dhaka water war, it is often said that mankind will experience a war over water in the near future. The claim has some truth in it, no doubt about that. But the term ‘Dhaka Water War’ is already an existing truth for Dhaka dwellers. It is indeed irony for a city surrounded by a river that it can not provide the least quantity of water. Experts often blame mismanagement and unplanned urbanization, rapid population growth in cities, etc. This article ‘Dhaka Water War’ will attempt to investigate the water crisis of Dhaka from a perspective where water is considered as a birth right not a mere commodity. In light of this idea, the article will also make an effort to provide some suggestions to lessen and then solve the water crisis, which has made the city of 15 million people a ‘living hell’. The focus will be on the community measures which require less budget and bureaucratic complexities.

    The Current Situation

    According to a report by The World Bank, Dhaka has the highest population growth rate for a city in the entire world. Around 3-4 million people, which constitute about one-fifth of the total population of this mega-city, live in slums. Most of the slums lack any proper water supply lines from WASA. Slum-dwellers standing in long rows, waiting for hours to collect a single gallon of water, is a very common scene.

    Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) said they are producing 160 to 165 crore liters of water which is about 25 percent less than demand. It extracts groundwater using 620 deep tube wells. In addition, more than 2,200 private wells also draw water to serve high-rise buildings and various institutions. The underground water now provides 88% percent of total demand, which was 95% before The Saidabad Water Treatment Plant went into action in 1995. As a result, the subterranean water level drops about 3 meters every year. The rate is 53.75 meters in Mirpur, 18.59 in Mohammedpur and 8.22 meters in Sutrapur. This rapid fall of underground water level does not only create a crisis in the supply of water but also the vacuum left by this fall possesses a great threat of an earthquake. Besides saline water is intruding to fill up space, posing a threat to getting fresh drinking water in the future.

    As Bangladesh is often titled as `land of rivers’, the nearby rivers could be considered as a source of water to diminish the pressure on underground water. But WASA emits 1,000 tonnes of untreated human waste into the rivers adjacent to the city every day, which means river water is unfit for human consumption. The unmonitored industrial wastage system is worsening this problem day by day. 

    Community Measures of Dhaka Water War

    One of the key factors which have a major effect on the gradual descending of subterranean water level is that our city planners often leave little chance for the rain water to get into the ground. Because most of the city areas are paved over, rainwater cannot be absorbed by the ground. Instead, it runs across the pavement, picking up oil, street debris, animal feces, and other waste as it moves. Reducing the amount of runoff rainwater is very critical to ensure the satisfactory level of underground water.  

    Experts use the term ‘rainwater harvesting’ to discuss the process of accumulation and deposition of rainwater for reuse on-site or underground. It goes without saying that the best way of letting rainwater go into the ground is keeping the importance of permeable surface in the head. For areas where hard surfaces are necessary, pavements should be built in a way so that it let the rainwater reach a permeable surface.

    Building rain barrels is another effective way of reducing runoff and conserving rainwater. According to the tutorial, provided for the people of Minnesota, the USA by the state government, it needs only about half an hour to make a rain barrel at home. As Bangladesh yet to reach extreme water crisis conditions, building a community rain barrel is enough to tackle the present situation.

    Rain gardens are another community mean of rainwater harvesting. These are concave-shaped gardens that collect runoff from downspouts, driveways and other hard surfaces. Plants that tolerate “wet feet” should be planted in the bottom, while plants that need less water are planted on the edges.

    Rainwater harvesting has proven to be successful in other parts of the world. The 35 rain water harvesting systems working in NYC’s community gardens collect 422,900 gallons of water every year. That’s enough for 264,313 toilet flushes! The Institute of Water Management (IWM) shows if 60 percent of total rain water can be harvested in a city like Dhaka, it will be capable of providing 200 million liters of water every single day.

    In India, the state of Tamil Nadu was the first to make the conservation of rain water compulsory for every building to avoid the rapid decrease in the underground water level. As a result of this, Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, saw a 50% rise in water level in five years. The other states gradually followed Tamil Nadu’s example and found surprising results. The state of Rajasthan receives a scant 400 mm of rainfall annually where the relatively dry western region of Rajshahi, receives 1600 mm of annual rainfall. The decade of the 1980s is Rajasthan is marked with the revival of the ancient tradition of creating Johads, large rain water reserve tanks. Now there are over 4,500 working Johads, lessening the water crisis of one of the driest places in this subcontinent.

    Conclusion

    In comparison with the vulnerable economy of our country, one can easily draw the conclusion that no quick solution in near at hand. First of all, the crisis should not be let to go out of control. This can easily be done by reducing the quantity of usage and wastage. Moreover, community measures are easy to be introduced and apparatuses are very available. As there is a wise saying, “All’s well that ends well”, the article is being concluded with good news. This November, Honorable LGRD minister has announced that the government is going to provide water supply lines in every slum area of the city within December 2015. One can raise doubt about whether it is really going to happen at last. But what can satisfy Dhaka dwellers is that this matter is taken to attention. The whole world today is talking about the impending severe water crisis. Bangladesh should not be left behind.

    The writer is a student at the University of Development Alternative (UODA).

    Photo Courtesy: The Daily Star

  • Dhaka Residents Flinch as Air Quality Worsens

    Dhaka Residents Flinch as Air Quality Worsens

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: It is no secret that Dhaka is a city that has been plagued with air pollution for a long time. The quality of air has worsened in the industrialization of the 1980s, 1990s, and of course the 2000s. Bangladesh has been leading the charts when it comes to pollution and that is definitely not something to gloat about and should elicit an opposite reaction. 

    In recent times the air quality issues have plagued the whole world and Bangladesh is certainly not an exception to that. Bangladesh has been put in the rankings as one of the worst countries to live in, in terms of air quality. Dhaka has been named one of the most inhospitable cities in the world.

    Dhaka is the 17th worst city in the world in terms of air quality in the world. Delhi and Dhaka have been trading places with each other as the most polluted cities in the world on a daily basis. What’s alarming is the amount of smog and dust particles in the air in Dhaka. With the top 10 causes of death in Dhaka having 5 respiratory and heart conditions or a source of such, this is technically an alarming situation. 

    Dhaka has an infrastructure that resembles a board of dominos with buildings and structures piled with little or no space in between. With living spaces and industrial sites being lumped together, the pollutants rapidly mix with the air and eventually in the lungs of citizens. 

    With brick kilns, factories, construction sites, metal workshops, and transportation fumes so much intricately mixed with our city living quarters, air pollution is bound to be an issue. With the worldwide situation getting so bad, there needs to be precautions and studies in place to mitigate the situation. Citizens in Dhaka have been subject to a varying range of problems pertaining to such harsh air quality. 

    Underlying conditions such as lung cancer, various forms of heart disease, and strokes are becoming common for the citizens. So proper steps from the government and citizens alike is sorely wanted to tackle this ever-present calamity. Regulations and restrictions, as well as the promotion of good environmental habits, should be the key to tackling these problems.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

    Photo Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune

  • Aqua Stressed in Mega City, A Road to Prevent

    Aqua Stressed in Mega City, A Road to Prevent

    Joni Alam: Water is essential to health, agriculture, energy, science, industry, transportation, and recreation- In short, to human existence- water is an incredibly complex matter, at once political, economic, legal, social and ecological in its nature. For any region, water fixed its national plan, domestic and external policies of the region’s principal actors. As water shortages occur and full utilization is reached these policies tend to be framed more and more in zero-sum terms, adding to the probability of discord. The foremost water supply of a country is used for its city men although the water supply and resources of a city are limited.

    Bangladesh is home to 2.15% of the world’s population, and merely .24% of water resources. The country is almost entirely dependent on cross-boundary water flows for its supply.

    Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, faces severe water shortages. While the city needs 2.2 billion liters of water a day, it can only produce 1.9 million, said, Dhaka’s Water Supply and Sewerage Authority. Shortages are so severe that some areas of Dhaka will have no water for several days. Sometimes, the dwellers of this city do not get a single drop for the months, which makes lives miserable and they have to survive for months by buying water from WASA tankers, paying sometimes more than twice the official price which is not hygiene. As a consequence, most people have to suffer from diarrhea.

    The city dwellers sometimes stop fetching water from the pump and use the supply water instead. This source of water is not properly managed, which will put the city at risk of severe water shortage in the future. When there is a supply of water from WASA, it is too dirty and unfit for consumption. Even despite boiling it for more than an hour, the bad smell doesn’t go. Water experts have called for the city to increase the usage of surface water sources such as ponds, rivers, and canals.

    But surface water is being polluted across the Dhaka due to indiscriminate discharge of industrial wastes into the rivers so that Dhaka is going to face an acute problem in getting pure drinking water. It is the most acute fear for the middle class and poor people in this city as well.

    We have seen most of the times, poor people like women, stand up with their empty jar in the open place for getting water and it happens sometimes by the children bring out a silent procession with a pitcher in the capital demanding smooth water supply. None of them are concern about the purity of the water. They only know, they have to survive their lives through that water. The city dwellers are dependent on readymade water rather than natural water instead of having a huge source of natural water because this water is being polluted and used improper ways. It is happening, of course, for the lack of taking adequate steps of proper authority.

    It should be acknowledged that one of the causes of the water crisis is, of course, the continuously growing population of the city. Development of utility services has to assume a stable population, if population swells continuously, infrastructural facilities will be bitterly challenged to match up. The daily requirement of water in the city is 200 crore liters whereas WASA can supply at best 180 crore liters. As WASW’s main source is groundwater, the groundwater table keeps falling with an obvious risk to the environment.

    In Bangladesh, Dhaka (capital) is the densest city with 12.8 million populations according to the official estimation but an unofficial estimate put this figure closer to 15 million, including 3.4 million living in slums. Another 300,000 to 400,000 people migrate to the city each year, which has witnessed a four-fold increase in its population in the last 25 years. According to the World Bank, the mega-city has the highest population growth in the world.

    The city requires 2.2 billion liters a day, but can only produce 1.9 to 2 billion water while almost water comes out from ground resource. Specialist warns authority’s for its over-dependency on groundwater and suggest to usage the surface water. Dhaka City is located on the flat delta of three major international rivers; the city is surrounded by a network of rivers; the Buriganga to the south-west, the Turag to the north-west the Balu to the north-east and the Shitalakhya to the south. and it has been seriously damaged by the flood of river overflow and heavy rainfall in the rainy season. Dhaka receives about 2,000 mm of rainfall annually, of which almost 80% falls during the monsoon. Floods are one of the main natural hazards affecting the city and are associated with river water overflow and rainwater stagnation.

    The city has become more vulnerable to intense urban flooding due to heavy and unpredictable rainfall in recent years. The drainage capacity of the city has also decreased alarmingly due to the development of unauthorized settlements. Illegal occupation of drainage canals and wetlands by land grabbers has further contributed to the problem. In the rainy season, the city mostly collapsed its water supply and drainage system due to it unplanned and unreliable construction, overloading, shortage of workforce of DWASA, lack of management and delaying in repairing of failed part and In the dry season from March to May water crisis looming for power shortage and outages. Many people didn’t get water for days because DWASA is unable to extract enough water to meet demand. And many people complained that water the rendered is undrinkable.

    WASA runs 600 deep tube wells in the city to extract water, and there are also 2,000 private tube wells throughout the city. About 87 percent of Dhaka residents use groundwater, mostly from deep tube wells, while the rest use treated surface water. (IRINA 18 November 2014). Adding to the water crisis, dwellers of some areas were getting unusable foul-smelling water from Water Supply and Sewerage Authority. The stinky water was allegedly spreading waterborne diseases as well.

    This water crisis creates a panic situation in the world’s largest megacity. Over 7,000 children die from diarrhea every year in Bangladesh and water-related diseases cause nearly a quarter of all deaths. (Water aid annual report 2013-14)

    Water-related improvements are crucial to meet the Millennium Development Goals, reduce child mortality, and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way. In addition, they induce multiple social and economic benefits, adding importantly to enhanced well-being. It’s very important to create well planning and good management to reduce the water crisis. It’s needed to trace a forecasting project line about total water demand and area-based demand of Dhaka city by estimating projected population growth and projected economic development and also forecasting water supply by estimating Rainfall projection, surface water projection, and groundwater projection. Bangladesh’s government not yet pegged water police while many developing countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia are cajoling the advantage of national water police. Ironically Bangladesh is a lower land country and we call our country mother of the river but we are immersed in a water crisis, not a shortage of water but improper regulation and pie situation in water authority.

    The drainage system of Dhaka city is heavily dependent on the water level of peripheral river systems. During most of the monsoon period, the water level of the river remains higher than the water level inside the city area. Hence, the draining of water by gravity flow is not always possible.

    Stronger action is needed now. Government steps in addressing this problem to date have been inadequate. Water problems stem mostly from an over-dependence on groundwater and the World Bank notes that the city obtains most of its water from over-exploited aquifers. Initiatives to cut the dependency and increase the use of surface water should have been taken much earlier. We have to use surface water to take by purifying and in this regard industrial attitude must be changed to pollute water.

    In this connection, it can be attached importance to creating mass awareness of the matter. The government has to ensure setting up of Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) at all industrial units for proper waste management to avoid water pollution. As we know, most of the industries have no ETP facilities for waste management, so the government has to make it mandatory to set up ETP facilities at all industrial units to save the surface water from pollution. In this regard, the JU Environmental Science Department has already installed a wastewater treatment laboratory under the Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) on the campus for purifying the industrial wastewater. The lab will provide a proper direction to the industrialists to operate its treatment in a sustainable way. We must ensure effluent treatment plants to be used by all industries. Also, the Water and Sewerage Authorities must ensure the use of human waste treatment plants.

    Safe water is essential for our existence and is related to safe food which means with the rising absence of safe water, the food produced at homes and also in eating places will be unsafe and lead to stomach and gastrointestinal diseases. Those industries which do not use effluent treatment plants in the near future must be stopped until they start using effluent treatment plants. Our universities like BUET and JU must come up with the latest models of effluent treatment plants that would serve our requirements for safe water. Also, all canals and rivers and water bodies must be surveyed to see the extent of water pollution and treatment plants must be set up accordingly.

    Other devices such as the Lifesaver bottle’ incorporate an extremely fine filter technology to filter out all bacteria and viruses. This makes the water drinkable from any source. The filter is useable for 15,000 liters of water. Once the filter is easily replaced and then the bottle is usable for another 15,000 liters. It can make water drinkable from any source, stops the spread of water-borne diseases, saves lives and can easily be served to the city dwellers. Products like the reverse Osmosis Sanitation system’ (ROSS) use movement generated by wheels to pass filters through a tank of water that cleans it of bacteria and viruses. It can carry 50 liters of water in one tank and stops the person from having to carry the volume of water as they can simply roll it. It also acts as a storage device for large quantities of water. It can completely clean the water of diseases or bacteria, prevents the spread of water-borne diseases, acts as a storage device. Governments and aid organizations can also invest in providing safe and clean water in the city areas in the form of taps or standpipes. The water for these taps could be sourced from boreholes that use unpolluted groundwater as their sources. It will reduce the number of deaths from drinking polluted water by providing a reliable clean source.

    Overall, we should conscious to waste the water. Our government should take a hard step to control this situation in this city for the betterment of city dwellers.

    (The writer is a lecturer of Mathematics of Comilla University. He can be reached at email: [email protected])

  • Gulshan Lake not in Government Spotlight

    Gulshan Lake not in Government Spotlight

    Ashik Rahman: There has not been sewage and household dissipates did not stream into the Gulshan lake in a single day. Gulshan Lake, located Gulshan-Baridhara area was officially marked an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) to save the water body from becoming pollution. And also to protect it from infringement which was declared before 12 years.

    According to the grapevine trying to convince people that it was central to safeguard it for the ecology of Dhaka city, two giant signboards of the Department of Environment (DoE) of the government have been posted on either end of the lake since November 26, 2001.

    Although there have been a lot of environmental law and organization but the Gulshan-Baridhara Lake continues to get more polluted day by day for not taking any steps from law implement departments, claimed environmental lawyer Rizwana Hasan.

    Whatever officials of DoE claimed that Dhaka Wasa and Dhaka City Corporation are trying to stop pollution in the Lake. It’s important that Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakhha (RAJUK) undertook a plan to build a 40 feet road along the eastern shoreline of the lake.

    Incidentally, to survive any kind of life in a water body, the minimum standard required level of break up oxygen is six milligrams per liter. The ECA rule was established in the year 1999 under the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, 1995.

    There is a total of 12 ECAs have been identified in Bangladesh. These areas are Tanguar Haor, Hakaluki Haor and Marjat Baor are also need to be protected. Shores of the lake are used as dumping ground for city waste.

    Image Courtesy: BD News 24

  • Bangladesh to Dispose of Toxic DDT

    Bangladesh to Dispose of Toxic DDT

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: Bangladesh has finally made a decision to dispose of the 500 stock of toxic DDT that has been stored in Bangladeshi storehouses. An infamous substance for spreading toxicity, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane or DDT in short, is an illegal pesticide that was stored for a long time in storehouses in Bangladesh.

    As a part of a United Nations led campaign will see Bangladesh hopefully get rid of the storage which has been in Bangladesh for as long as thirty-four years. The import now is at the Chottogram Medical sub-depot or MSD, and will be shipped to Germany to be incinerated and destroyed for good.

    As a part of the Government’s 42 million USD project titled the ‘Pesticide Risk Reduction in Bangladesh’, the DDT disposal will cost about 8.29 million of the overall budget. The operations will be carried out in conjunction with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

    The Global Environment Facility is funding the disposal operations. The GEF’s goal is to help manage the most worrying environmental problems of the world, as it was established on the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. If carried out smoothly, Bangladesh will be free of a troublesome component that has been polluting the environment for a long time.

    The United States of America Banned the substance back in 1972. The worldwide prohibition of DDT commenced in 2004 under the Persistent Organic Pollutions Stock Convention. But in between the two dates, a WHO led and Asian Development Bank-financed project had imported the DDT in 1985. As the substance was not in technical compliance, the stock remained in the Chottogram MSD.

    With subsequent natural calamities like floods affecting Bangladesh in the following years, the substance was washed away into the surrounding environment. It was already damaged due to the humidity and brought about damages as a result. On a DDT crisis workshop, a government official from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change has said that the stock might be the reason of cancer that led to two of his colleagues’ deaths.

    Bangladesh’s riverine lands and the weather patterns would have meant that continued warehousing of the stock could have led to dire environmental and health damages to the surrounding area and people alike. The people and the environment can breathe a sigh of relief because of the announcement.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

  • Chilai River Restoration plans in Motion by the Local Government

    Chilai River Restoration plans in Motion by the Local Government

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: The Chilai River in Gazipur is on its way to being restored to its natural flowing self. With many hindrances in its natural flow in the form of pollution and illegal placements, Chilai River is a very important cog in the wheel that is the Gazipur District environment. 

    At one time it was brimming with so much life and the people in the vicinity depended heavily on the river’s natural flow. But in recent years the river is less than a shell of its former glory. The amount of illegal construction, encroachment, and pollution has made the river narrow and resembling a feeble canal of sorts.

    Illegal structures hounded the banks of the once flowing river and the natural flow of the river is blocked and it’s in a dire state. Once a 23-kilometer long river bank is now barely visible with a plethora of illegal structures popping up like mushrooms. The River’s natural state is a far cry from the previous version that was so full of life.

    The calls for restoration have not fallen upon deaf ears as the local government is taking steps to save the river from the man-made perils that surround it. The river will soon be dredged after the illegal encroachments are evicted as per the Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur Dr Dewan Mohammad Humayun Kabir. 

    The enforcement of mobile courts to get rid of the illegal structures have been underway. As of typing, many structures have been removed and fines are being handed out left right and centre. The enforcers are in hard and diligent work to enforce the illegal invaders of the river away to save the river.

    There is also a plan to have an eco-park around the river. This step s intended to teach the general citizens the importance and beauty of the Chilai River. It is intended to be a tourist spot as well as a step towards saving the river. 

    The work regarding bringing down illegal structures and removal of encroachment is well and truly underway. The Local Government hopes that these steps will contribute to restoring the river to its natural state again.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

    Photo Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune

  • Dysfunctional Wate Management at shipyards spells trouble for the future

    Dysfunctional Wate Management at shipyards spells trouble for the future

    The Shipyard business in Bangladesh has been a huge source of cash flow in the economy and it also employs a lot of people creating jobs in the surrounding areas. But it cannot be ignored that the operations of a shipyard can amount to a significant pollution. And recent findings show that the shoddy waste management efforts of the businesses can have trouble in the future. 

    The Department of Environment has been conducting checks to see how the businesses are doing in terms of environmental preservation. The results of the drives were less than satisfactory. Many Shipyard businesses were pinned with fines ranging from TK 50,000 to TK 80,000 to TK 5,00,000 and even TK 2 Crores. The fined parties include Khawja Ship Breaking LTD, Jahanabad Ship Breaking, Four Star Enterprise, Golden Steel Alloy works to name a few.

    The fined shipyard businesses engaged in ignorant operations that threatened the ecology and bio-diversity. In the case of the aforementioned Four Star Enterprises, the business threatened an area of 1491 decimal land of the beach. Muktadir Hasan, the Assistant Director of the Chittagong region of the Department of Environment has said that these drives against the shipyards will continue to ensure proper preservation of the environment.

    The waste management of the shipyards is to blame for this. The laborers in the industry have been facing a plethora of health issues stemming from exposure to Carcinogens and toxic components that are residues of the shipyard operations. The average ship break can make about 7 tonnes of asbestos. The dumping of the residues of the ship breaks can cause trouble to the soil and the water. And dumping the waste into soil and water is what is actually happening at the moment.

    Mohammad Ali Shahin the senior program coordinator of the YPSA noted the dreadful state of the shipyards as six out of eight yards do not have any semblance of a system in place for waste management. He also has urged the shipyard industries to put a system in place to preserve the environmental balance as well as safeguard their own human resource properly. 

    In spite of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act of 1995’s statement of making sure of no pollution in terms of shipbreaking and recycling operations, it is alarming to see that the businesses still being ignorant to the point of doing damages. Proper actions and continued drives against the dysfunctional waste management is expected to continue in full swing.

    (The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

    Photo Courtesy: The Vintage News