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  • Poisonous Frogs

    Poisonous Frogs

    The scientists are in serious stress to tackle the nuisance of small Poisonous Frogs in Australian native. A group of scientists from Charles Darwin University in the United Kingdom in their research said the small Poisonous Frogs are killing snakes and crocodiles, raising concern for bio-diversity.

    When the snakes swallow them to meet their hunger, the small frogs spread poison inside the snake’s body and eventually the snake dies, said the report. The scientists said that they were concerned when they worked with the crocodiles of Victoria River and Bulow River in Northern territory. The number of crocodiles, small in size (male 1.7 meters while female crocodile only 0.7 meters) known as Pigmy, a rare species was 28 in 2007 but the number came down to 18 after one year.

    The scientists could not specify the actual reasons behind such reduction of the crocodiles but after the presence of such frogs in the rivers, the number of crocodiles is coming down. It may cause of Climate Change effect. Incidentally, Due to shortage of Food, the crocodiles eat up the frogs and they die, said the scientists. The frogs are advancing towards East-South Australia with a speed of 50 kilometers per year, the scientists informed.

  • Monpura

    Monpura

    Monpura, One of the best and attractive islands is located in Bhola district of Bangladesh. It has a historical background as well. Portuguese pirates used to take shelter in Monpura Island before 600 years ago at least. After the Portuguese left from here, people from Bhola, Laxmipur, and Noakhali started living the island.

    Bhola is one of the largest islands in Bangladesh which is situated the most southern parts in-country. The 20 Char lands in the 350-square kilometer island on the Meghna which the Bay of Bengal is a very closed and now green sector enclosed by sea. It’s presenting an extraordinary beauty that might not be seen in any other southern part of Bangladesh.  The mainland of Monpura is Bhola which was created by Poli of the Meghna River. The interesting thing is a journey in the Island; Varieties of wildlife with green forests are an enchanting scene never to be forgotten.

    Deer, Monkey, python, dolphin & lots of various types of Birds are the major attraction of the island. The Department of Forest has been made this spot as green by planting trees about a decade ago so that cyclones and natural disasters cannot hamper the southern part of the country. And the department was tried to make this place a tourist spot.

    It is important that a lot of migratory birds came here in the winter season. The exclusive feature of the island is that a person can see both sunrise and sunset from a few points on this island.

    How to Go

    A person can go to this amazing place very easily. Tipu 5 and Panama ship (locally called Launch) start its journey from Sadarghat, Dhaka to Monpura every day at 5 pm and reached at Monpura the next day at 7 am. Rent for the deck is 800 BDT and for the cabin are 800 to 1500 BDT. The contact number of Tipu and Panama is +88-01740951720.

    Another route to go to Monpura Island is by starts journey with ship Tipu 4 or, Farhan which departure from Sadarghat at 6:30 pm and arrives at Tomijuddin Ghat of Charfashion area of Bhola district at 4 am. After that tourists can arrive at Monpura by another ship or, engine boat. This route will give a tourist extra benefit which is visiting the Tomijuddin area which is also an attractive place. However, it is one of the great tourist attractions in Bangladesh.

    How to Visit

    The best solution for the site visits is to rent a motorcycle with its driver. He will also help you as a professional guide. The motorcycle driver will charge 1000 to 1500 BDT for a day with refreshments and lunch.

    Where will stay

    Tourists can stay by setting up camp. Don’t worry, there’s no robber, thief and such kind of problems. On the other hand, there are some hotels but the quality is very low.

    How can back

    Every morning at 10 am, ships are a departure from Monpura.

  • Finalization of National Tobacco Control Policy under Threat: PROGGA

    Finalization of National Tobacco Control Policy under Threat: PROGGA

    The cigarette manufacturers’ organization Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has already started a strong lobbying campaign in the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to hinder the finalization process of the National Tobacco Control Policy (NTCP) 2019. On 15 September 2019, the organization sent a letter to the Finance Minister, with copies sent to Finance Secretary, Health Services Secretary and Chairman of National Revenue Board (NBR). In the letter, the association presented a series of unsubstantiated and fictitious explanations and ‘reasoning’ against the proven and highly effective tobacco control measures that the draft NTCP contains including the abolishment of government partnership in tobacco companies, the banning of foreign direct investment in the tobacco sector, banning of emerging tobacco products, increasing the size of Graphic Health Warning (GHW) on tobacco packaging, the introduction of plain packaging, increasing tobacco taxes and prices as well as introducing specific excise taxes.

    The sole purpose of BCMA’s strategy here is to bring forth the issue of tobacco revenue in order to intimidate and manipulate the MoF and eventually impair the finalization of NTCP. Previously, the tobacco companies launched a concerted media campaign to disrupt the inter-ministerial meeting on NTCP.

    BCMA in its letter mentioned Bangladesh as one of the countries with high tobacco taxes. The reality is quite the contrary as the price of cigarettes in Bangladesh is one of the cheapest in the world. Average price of cheapest cigarettes is more than twice in India than it is in Bangladesh. According to a 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) study, with the exception of Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia, Bangladesh has the cheapest cigarette prices in the South and South-East Asian region.

    As a result, it is evident that there is no alternative to increasing this ‘cheapest’ price by introducing specific taxes on tobacco products. In the letter, BCMA could not but mention its favourite fear-mongering story that if, by sheer chance, the authority manages to increase the tobacco taxes substantially, it would result in widespread tax evasion and huge influx of illicit cigarettes, eventually causing the govt a massive revenue loss. The fact, as always, contradicts with BCMA’s claim.

    The report ‘A Global review of Country Experiences’, published in February 2019 by the World Bank, has found out that the increase in tobacco taxes has barely any relation with illicit trade of cigarettes and the percentage of illicit trade of tobacco in Bangladesh stands at merely 1.8 percent, the lowest in 27 countries. BCMA also claimed that the plain packaging strategy of tobacco control is ineffective in curbing the use of tobacco products. But in reality, till today, more than 16 countries in the world, including Australia, Canada, Belgium, Hungary, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, have introduced plain packaging in their tobacco control mechanism after realizing its impact.

    Even our neighboring countries, Srilanka and Nepal are also working on implementing plain packaging soon. In Plain Packaging, tobacco companies cannot attach any promotional messages in the packets of tobacco products. It also boosts the effectiveness of GHW on tobacco packs. Currently, GHW messages covers the lower 50 percent of all tobacco packs in Bangladesh whereas it is 90 percent in Nepal, 85 percent in India and Thailand, 80 percent in Sri Lanka. BCMA also emphasized on retaining the govt. shares on tobacco companies, claiming that it is important for revenue earning and minimizing public health risk. Again the reality is that the govt.’s shares in multinational tobacco companies and the presence of govt.

    Officials in the Directors’ Board give the companies an unprecedented opportunity to infiltrate the policymaking process and interfere in tobacco control strategies. BCMA also stood against the proposed policy of banning foreign direct investment in the tobacco industry claiming that such investment creates employment opportunities which is undoubtedly ridiculous laughable. The truth is that Bangladesh, a country where 49 percent of its population is youth, appears as a tantalizing market for expanding tobacco business. The country is currently going through the ‘Demographic Dividend’ stage as the working-age population is larger than its dependent population.

    However, the high prevalence of tobacco use can lead this generation to premature death and loss of productivity and vitality. BCMA’s letter also presented electronic cigarettes, vaping, heated (IQOS) tobacco products as ‘safe alternatives’ to traditional cigarettes and advised against banning these products. Tobacco companies produce and market these products targeting the youth and children.

    Due to innovative marketing and attractive designing of these products, it has already gained much popularity among school-going children and adolescents. The widespread prevalence of emerging tobacco products has already taken a deadly turn in Europe and the U.S. Bangladesh is yet to experience such widespread use of these items though the numbers are rising up. Thailand, Singapore and some 40 countries have already banned e-cig and vaping products. 

    It should be mentioned that tobacco claims more than 126,000 lives each year in Bangladesh and incurs a financial loss of more than Taka 30,560 cr. due to the illness and deaths, it causes. Realizing the extent of loss caused by tobacco use, the Hon.

    Prime Minister declared her vision of transforming Bangladesh into a tobacco-free country by 2040 and in 2016, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) started formulating National Tobacco Control Policy to reach the goal. As a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of WHO, Bangladesh is officially committed to safeguarding its tobacco control policies and measures from the vested interests of the tobacco industry.

    So the govt must stay clear of the influence and interference of tobacco companies and finalize and implement the National Tobacco Control Policy as soon as possible.

    Source: Press release from PROGGA (Received by E-Mail of bdenvironment.com)

  • 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])

  • Streams destroyed in Bandarban

    Streams destroyed in Bandarban

    Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: Streams destroyed in Bandarban as they are being dried up due to illegal stone extractions. Around 400 streams and waterfalls have dried out due to this. 

    At a conference held by the National River Conservation Commission and the Bangladesh River Explorers Association have said about the destruction and drying up of streams around the Bandarban region. The River Explorers Association President Monirul Islam has said that the illegal extraction of stones and boulders for industrial purposes have to lead to streams and rivers within the Bandarban region to dry up. As a riverine country, our economy and way of life, in general, depending on the flow of streams, brooks, and rivers.

    The conference has had speakers from various river conservation groups and individuals in the movement. The esteemed deputy commissioner of Chittagong, Abdul Mannan presided over the conference. The River Conservation commission Chairman Dr Muzibur Rahman Hawlader was the Chief Guest.

    The two-day conference has had members of the river activist arena speak up about the many instances of rivers drying up and our ecology in danger because such rampant damages. The Bandarban stream incident is one that is caused by humans. Mass ignorance while extracting these stones and boulders are damaging the rivers natural direction of flow. Thus, the unnatural flow has been the reason for the rivers drying up over time. The mountainous regions of Bandarban is filled with streams and waterfalls that are vital to the environmental balance. But the man-made disasters like the stream destruction are not doing any favours to the environment.

    The Conference speakers have been putting these facts into perspective and have called upon the regulation and restriction of any human actions that lead to such destruction of our ecosystem. Activist Monirul Islam has put emphasis on the protection and conservation of the River Sangu which is one of the most crucial rivers in the Bandarban Area.

    The conference also included seminars and discussions on the matters regarding the hill tract area’s conservation of water. The speakers talked about the mitigation of such issues with development projects in the near future.

    (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

  • 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

  • 7 million lives lost to Air Pollution every year

    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 Killer‘, 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

  • Bandarban Environment under threat for soil excavation

    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