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7 million lives lost to Air Pollution every year
Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: In this turbulent time with climate change and upcoming recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it might be a good sign that reduction in the industrial activities has meant that air pollution has gone down quite significantly. But we should still wary of the fact that it is one of the most fatal reasons for ailments and eventually death. That was expanded even wider by the expert on the matter, David Boyd at Geneva last year.
Boyd has termed air pollution ‘A Silent Kill e r‘, and that term holds so much water. He backs up his naming with a statistic that 7 million people every year die. It is due to causes linked directly or indirectly to Air Pollution. With a rising number of asthma patients and other respiratory issues, almost 600,000 of these deaths are children.
Boyd had broken down the stats on an hourly basis. His research showed that 800 people die at an hourly rate. And these deaths are direct results of issues such as cancer, heart, and respiratory diseases. All is directly links to air pollution.
With industrial advancements at an all-time high, production and manufacturing activities happen at a rapid rate. Owing to the competitive nature of the market, industrial activities demand an exorbitant amount of fossil fuel and electricity generation. More and more deadly particulates add to the atmosphere and endanger lives because of inhaling such matters.
Women, Children, Elder statesmen, and more vulnerable groups are always in the crosshairs of air pollution. To curtail air pollution and stop deaths, David Boyd advised in taking steps. These included monitoring air pollution effects on human health, tracking sources of air pollution, regulations regarding air pollution activities, promotion, and availability of public information regarding air pollution, and more.
In the recent Covid-19 pandemic many industries have shut down production and public commutes have been shut down barring emergency activities. A recent report from IQAir shows that there has been a 60% decrease in air pollution. It is an indication that if we can be a little bit more responsible in our interactions after this pandemic, then we can too reduce air pollution.
(The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])
Content Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Photo Courtesy: RT Magazine
March 5, 2019
Bandarban Environment under threat for soil excavation
Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: Bandarban Environment is under threat for soil excavation. The Soil of Lama Upazilla is under the threat of serious damage because of unethical soil excavation going in the area. The industrial excavation work going on in the area has seen troubling results for the Bandarban Area specifically the Lama Upazilla portion of it. The region has been excavating soil illegally and unethically and it is not good for the near future of the environment nor agriculture.
The Fakirkhola region of Lama has seen up to 150 acres of land being excavated in the name of industrial work. The nearby brick kilns, construction work, filling ponds and portions of the river. Because of the unethical and almost indiscriminate ways of excavation going on in the area, it has become quite difficult to keep the environmental balance of this area. The roads have gotten to the point of being utterly unusable. The trolleys and the trucks have been removing the topsoil which has been in demand for quite a while.
The Lama Upazilla has always faced a shortage of cultivable lands in its area. Despite this, the lands are being sold at a cheap rate, and businesses have been using the topsoil to do their industrial and construction work. The 4-5 feet of topsoil has been removed and it has worked in detriment of the nearby owners.
Local sources have named many local figures involved in highly damaging activities. Abdus Sukkur, Abdullah Prakash who is also known as Kala Shona, Rezaul Karim Manik, Saker Ullah are some of the local people engaged with these activities. The soil from the many parts of Lama is then transferred to the Dulahajra union in Cox’s Bazar. A syndicate working under Union Parishad Chairman Nurul Amin has been purchasing the soil.
The removers of these lands have used underhanded tactics to convince farmers to excavate the land, saying a virus or a parasite has been eating away the nutrients.
The Upazilla Agricultural Expansion Officer Sanjida Binte Alam has said that the main nutrition for vegetation to grow is in the topsoil and it would take about 15-20 years to accumulate again. Despite the warnings and notices, the owners have still been exercising their unethical reins. Necessary steps from law enforcement is needed now to alleviate the suffering of man and nature in the Lama district.
(The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])
Photo Courtesy & Content Source: Dhaka Tribune
March 5, 2019
Teesta River Drying up, Ecosystem under Threat
Lalmonirhat’s Patgram Upazilla is the entry point of the Teesta River into Bangladesh. But India has built an irrigation Barrage at the Indian side of Teesta, specifically the Malbazar Town in Jalpaiguri which caused Teesta River Drying up. The barrage, unfortunately, is working as a blockade and diverting the water. As a result, the Bangladeshi portion of the Teesta River is Drying up.
The Teesta entrance to the Hatibandha Teesta Barrage sees a water flow of around 800-900 cusecs. But the same cannot be said for the area of the barrage to the Lalmonirhat-Kauna area. The water flow recorded there are 300-400 Cusescs.
Authorities from both India and Bangladesh have held talks about the river situation with practically no Results. The natural biodiversity and the ecosystem of the area are at risk. The drying up is in such a dire level that farmers are cultivating pumpkins in the dried-up land. The Hartibandha Barrage area is totally dried up.
With the total length of Teesta being 315 km, it covers a 115 km of critical areas within Bangladesh. The natural balance of the surrounding areas depend heavily on the wellbeing of the river.
With possibilities of talks coming up again in the near future, the welfare of the Teesta River will be of utmost importance. The talks regarding this is not a new occurrence. There has been discussion and debate regarding the river since 1983. A decisive point was reached back in 2007. The Joint river commission of Bangladesh and India decided to divide 4/5th of the river among themselves while the remaining portion would be free to let the river flow properly.
In 2011, a division with 42.5% in favor of India and 37.5% to Bangladesh was also discussed which like the previous settlement remains unsigned. Bangladeshi officials have to eke out a deal as soon as possible to save the waning ecosystem of the Teesta and the areas around it.
(The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])
March 27, 2018
Karatoa River Occupied by Land grabbers
Preparing fake documents by land grabbers to occupy a part of the Karatoa River and constructing establishments.
Powerful people of those are have occupied large areas of land on both sides of the river in the two districts. Their aims of those people build multi-story buildings there. The environment department identified grasped river land where some people including Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) even included Thangamara Mohila Shabuj Shango and Diabetic Hospital in Bogra.
WDB Bogra district Sub-Assistant Engineer AKM Najmul Hassain said that already has been occupied for farming and other purposes by encroachers about 57 kilometers of the 86.75 kilometers channel from Khalisha to Khanpur.
The river lost Khalisha in Gaibandha to Khanpur channel in Bogra which is considering as the main channel of the river before about 23 years ago, said WDB officials.
To run the water flow of the river, WDB in Khalisha area constructed a three-vent control device in 1989. Farmers on both riverbanks started the cultivation of Boro (One kind of crop) and other kinds of seasonal crops from Khalisha to Khanpur from the beginning of the winter period. And policy needs to implement here.
The environment department has been taken an initiative to restore the flow of the river from Khalisha of Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha to Khanpur of Sherpur Upazila in Bogra district. WDB sources said that the department prepares to make gabbers’ list to expel them and restore the river channel.
M Inamul Haque mentioned in his book ‘Water Resources Management in Bangladesh’ that from the Rennell’s Map of 1779 it comes into sights that the Karatoa began from the foothills of the Himalayas in Darjeeling of West Bengal (India) and joined the Atrai River in the plains. According to the DoE Bogra officials, the river is dangerously polluted by chemical, household and industrial waste presently.
January 20, 2015
The Teesta River desiccated
Ashik Rahman: Already majority part of The Teesta River has dried up due to extreme fall in water levels in the summer season. It’s fall due to a barrage in India, upstream of the Teesta Irrigation Project at Dalia, Lalmonirhat. Experts think that barrage is the main hinder the natural flow of the river.
Officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) said cute to creating several sandy shoals on the Teesta River had been fall which effect hampers on agriculture, environment, communication, and livelihoods. At least 5,000 people at shoal villages in Sundarganj Upazila, Rangpur is a sufferer and a long area is desiccated in Rangpur.
Chandipur Union Parishad of the Upazila Golam Mostafa Ahmed chairman said to media that at least a thousand people become unemployed. And they will be employed for a season for a lack of fertility due to vast tracts of land along the riverbank remains unplanted.
December 4, 2014
People Face Water Crisis in this Summer in Khulna
Ashik Rahman: The shortage of drinking water is turning into a major problem in summer because there are no deep tube wells in the groundwater level in Khulna. People in Khulna city and five Upazilas’ of the Khulna district face serious water crisis this summer.
Officials of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) claim that around at least 2.5 million people of Khulna city and Dighalia, Dumuria, Rupsha and Batiaghata Upazilas’ became sufferer.
Officials of DPHE said to different media that groundwater level declined by 21 feet on an average in the five Upazilas in the economic year 2012-2013 while it declined by 26 feet in 2011. For this reason, people in numerous areas of these Upazilas’ need to depend on undrinkable pond water.
Some water experts said in media that “scanty rainfall, poor navigability and extreme use of underground water were the main reasons behind the fall.
September 20, 2014
Rivers in Bangladesh ‘Comatose’
Ashik Rahman: The locality and government are neglected to be responsible for the relentless degradation. As a source of livelihood, communication, and heart of people in Dhaka had been determined to the Buriganga River but now it’s a major source of running the capital. This happens due to pollution and building illegal property by robbing. So, now Rivers in Bangladesh is in ‘Comatose’
Along with Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakkhya, Balu and Bangshi is being a death trap for increasing pollution and also indiscriminate sand lifting. The minimal level of dissolved oxygen (DO) required for life to survive in these rivers do not have.
Researchers of The Department of Environment (DoE) had been an alarming message on levels of DO in these rivers after three months of research. They have analysis on various samples of a chemical whose were collected from these rivers and the levels of DO in Buriganga, Turag and Bangshi were 0.38, 0.59 and 0.0 milligram per liter gradually.
According to the Environment Protection Act (Amendment) 2010, the minimum required level DO is 5 mg/l for any water body to sustain aquatic species including fishes and others is. The minimal standard rate for water being eligible for treatment as drinking water is 6 mg/l.
Contacted with Environment Expert Dr Ahsan Uddin Ahmed over the phone, he said that “such a DO merge amount in water poses severe great threats to biodiversity and hydro-ecology”. “Random dumping of waste has put the rivers in and around the city in a blackout”.
Professor Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said that the government ought to shift the tannery diligence from the Hazaribagh, Dhaka. The chemical waste from the tanneries is a major polluter of these rivers. It’s important that The DoE research had been found that the level of DO at the Hazaribagh area of Buriganga River was 1.06, 0.50 and 1.0 mg/l in January, February and March gradually. And the Bio-Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is also very high in these waters.
September 16, 2014
DU established “Center for Climate Change Study and Resource Utilization”
Ashik Rahman: A new study institute titled “Center for Climate Change Study & Resource Utilization (CCCSRU)” has established at by the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Dhaka University in view of carrying out methodical and corresponding research on Climate Change matters.
The center will be a self-determining, and non-profit research and training institute dedicated mainly to the energy, environment and climate change issues. To initiate, promote, sponsor and organize scientific study effort on the various dimensions of problems and issues pertaining to Fossil Fuels, Petroleum, Natural Gas and Coal – their rational utilization and clean and energy-efficient processing technology, CO2 discharge reduction, Climate change, and its mitigation, nano and membrane knowledge, Waste management, water and air pollution and its technology for treatment, Energy policy are the main objectives of the Center.
Incidentally, there are fifteen members in governing body with the Vice-Chancellor of the University as Chairman, Deans of numerous faculties, Chairmen and Professors of concerning Departments as members and Director of the Center as member-secretary will govern the Center. Department of Applied Chemistry & Chemical Engineering of University professor Dr. Rafiqul Islam is the founder-director of the center.
June 20, 2014
Wild Animals Extinct from Mymensingh
Johirul Haque: Wild Animals Extinct from Mymensingh creates panic. Most of the species of wild animals have now become almost extinct from five districts of greater Mymensingh region. Absence of the implementation of laws for safe-guarding the animals, indiscrimination killing of animals, careless use of pesticides, felling of trees, burning down and clearing of bushes and hedges and drying up of aquatic habitat are the main reasons behind the depletion of the wild animals.
There are hilly forests best known as ‘Garo Forests’ mainly in Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur and Netrokona district.
There were also numerous small jungles and vast wetlands in the Mymensingh region. Each of the said geographical factors has contributed to the sustenance of different kinds of wild life both big and small in the region.
Many kinds of animals including leopard, wild buffalo, cow, hog, cock, peacock, spotted deer, jackals, goat, and wild cat; mongoose, red mouth monkey, black mouth baboon, porcupine, squirrel, hare, pangolin, and bobcat, etc were seen in Mymensingh and Madhupur Forests in the past. Even only three to four decades ago, many of the wild animals were available in the forests and jungles, said Divisional Forest official sources.
Besides, a large number of birds including hawk, kite, vulture, mynah, nightingale, swallow, owl, pigeon, dove, skylark, sparrow, woodpecker, parakeet, different varieties of martin, dove and king fisher were available in the forests.
There were also different varsities of reptiles and snakes including python and poisonous cobra, different varieties of frogs, numerous varieties of environment-friendly worms including earthworm, ant and white ant, different kinds of butterfly in forests of Mymensingh region.
Forest in greater Mymensingh region are shrinking fast due to indiscriminate cutting of trees, the encroachment of forestlands, use of forest land for rubber gardening and raising fruit orchards, officials said
The number of these wild animals has greatly reduced in the forests following the food crisis due to the unusual decrease of trees and plants in Madhupur and Bhaluka Sal Forests.
Contacted, Md. Moyeen Uddin Khan, Deputy Conservator of Forest in Mymensingh said that there are about 71,000 acres of government reserved forest in greater Mymensingh. Out of the total land, 29,000 acres of forest land have been grabbed forcibly and the occupied land is being used for banana and pineapple cultivation, said the official.
For preservation of wild animals, the government has taken initiatives including making fruit orchards, plantation of medicinal plants needed for wild animals. The local people should be made aware of the importance of wild animals needed for a balanced environment, the official added.
The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at E-mail: [email protected]
September 23, 2013
Light-trap Technology to Help Farmers
Johirul Haque: Light-trap, an environment-friendly method to detect harmful insects is helping hundreds of farmers in different areas of the Mymensingh during this ongoing Aman season. The farmers are getting benefits from this technology and they are very enthusiastic to use it, said Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials here.
The DAE sources said they have taken the programme throughout the district with a view to detecting the harmful insects in the Aman fields and to use the insecticides accordingly to save the crops. The very low-cost technology is also helpful for the ecological balance, said the officials.
In many cases, the farmers use insecticides indiscriminately without knowing about the proper insecticides to kill the harmful insects and the farmers have to cost more money, said the officials adding “indiscriminate use of pesticides also kill the useful insects, endangering the environment”.
Around 2625 light-traps have already been set up at 525 blocks in 12 Upazilas of the district.
Narayan Chandra Basak, Deputy Director of DAE told this correspondent that light- trap programme has been implementing in the district for last few years to help the farmers to manage pest effectively with low-cost. This year we gave more emphasis on the programme, he said.
During September and October, the farmers face serious pest attack every year and they have to cost more money using pesticides indiscriminately for pest control, said the deputy director. He also said the farmers go for indiscriminate use of pesticides as they do not know what pesticides actually they need.
Over 2,58,955 hectares of land were brought under Aman cultivation in the district this year. This technology has reduced use of indiscriminate pesticides to nearly 50 percent as farmers’ response to this technology, said the deputy director.
The farmers are also learning about the harmful and useful insects through this technology and such identification is much needed for maintaining ecological balance, added the official.
I visited the method at the field level and it has got a very positive response from the farmers’ side, said the official.
The technology is easy to handle, so the farmers can carry it from one field to another round the season according to their need, sources said.
The DAE sources said they set up the light-traps at night using traditional lights, charger light or electric bulbs and a pot with detergent or kerosene mixed clear water and the pot is put under the lights to draw the insects. The insects fall into the water kept in the pot and thus the existence of harmful and beneficial insects in the field is identified, said sources.
Sources also informed that if the existence of harmful insects is found, agricultural experts render necessary advice to the farmers.
Contacted, Mahbubul Alam, Muktagacha Upazila Agriculture officer said, no harmful insects have been detected in the Upazila so far. He observed that light- trap technology is saving the Aman filed from harmful insects and helping the farmers to learn about an environment-friendly technology as well.
He also said this programme has been implementing in 45 blocks in 10 unions of the Upazila. This technology would make a positive impact in the field of agriculture benefiting farmers, hoped the official.
Hazrat Ali, a farmer of village Kandinau of Kumargata union in Muktagacha said, he was acquainted with the technology for the first time this year and he attained knowledge for operating the technology to detect harmful insects.
This technology will encourage the farmers and it will boost Aman production, hoped Hazrat Ali. The light-trap method has inspired hundreds of farmers of the district in the last couple of years and many farmers have been successfully using the nature-friendly technology to detect the harmful and beneficial insects, needed to reap a good harvest, said Mohammad Abdul Hannan, Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer.
The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at E-mail: [email protected]
September 9, 2013