HC directs to introduce alert system to warn people about air pollution

The High Court today directed the government to introduce an alert system for issuing urgent cautionary messages in order to save people from unhygienic, severe unhygienic and dangerous air pollution.

The court also ordered the authorities concerned of the government to fix a time-bound action plan in order to identify the main sources of air pollution and activities and to curb the pollution and to submit a compliance report to this effect before it.

The bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the directives following a petition filed by rights organisation Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) seeking necessary orders to implement the directives issued by another bench on February 15, 2022 on this issue.

According to the petition, the officials concerned have not issued any cautionary message under the relevant rules to save people though the air pollution in Dhaka was unhygienic, severe unhygienic and dangerous in most of days in last week of December, 2023 and in January this year.

Following a writ petition filed by Bela, the HC on February 15, 2022 directed the officials to identify the sources of major air pollution in the country, submit a report on government's action pan to curb the pollution and its implementation and to identify and make a list of the activities, which are mainly responsible for air pollution.

It asked the authorities to prepare a time-bound mitigation plan for setting up air quality monitoring system in appropriate places and introduce a system to save people from the exposure to unhealthy air.

The HC also issued a rule asking the responsibilities to explain why their failure to mitigate air pollution and to save public health should not be declared illegal and against the public interest and why they should not be directed to control and improve the air pollution.

Secretaries concerned of the ministries of cabinet division; local government and rural development; forest, environment and climate change; industries; housing and public works; health and family planning; road, transport and bridges; and finance and mayors of Dhaka north and south city corporations; director general of department of environment; chairman of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha; chief engineer of roads and highways department; chairman of Bangladesh road transport authority and director (monitoring and enforcement) of DoE have been made respondents to the directives and rule.

Lawyer Hasanul Banna appeared for Bela while Assistant Attorney General Md Selim Azad represented the state during hearing of the petition today.