We need a fresh drive to protect environment

Over the last few years, the air quality of Dhaka and other urban areas has been getting worse. Dhaka often secures first or second place in the global ranking of cities with the worst air quality. Indiscriminate urbanisation is largely responsible for this, coupled with the government's backtracking on crucial decisions that could have helped reduce pollutions. A report in this paper, published yesterday, tracks the decisions that the government has failed to follow through. Moreover, it also seems to have given unreasonable leeway to the polluters.

Why, after all, is there a possibility that the environment ministry's plan to phase out clay bricks by 2025 may extend to 2028? Do we not know how lethal the pollution from traditional brick kilns is? Or, why did the government decide to not implement a previously imposed limit on the economic lifespan of buses (20 years) and trucks (25 years)? Old, rickety vehicles are often seen spewing black smoke every day. The report elaborates the high concentrations of particulate matter in the air caused by this pollution, which gets absorbed into our respiratory system, causing all kinds of illnesses. Other sources of toxic emissions include biomass burning, use of poor-quality fossil fuel and poor transboundary air quality. What decisions have been made to reduce these emissions?

Unregulated construction has had adverse effects on wildlife, too. In Old Dhaka, for example, many wildlife species have simply disappeared because their habitats have been lost. Gardens and parks have also disappeared, trees continue to be cut indiscriminately, and rivers are choking. Wildlife experts, quoted by another report in this daily, have lamented the near-extinction of many species such as rhesus macaques, frogs, swifts, herons, egrets and cranes. This has disrupted the ecosystem and increased the population of harmful insects such as Aedes mosquitoes, once eaten by frogs and birds.

The government's 100-day programme to identify sources of air pollution and devise plans to combat it is commendable, of course. But it makes us wonder why this has not happened over the years despite countless reports spelling out the sources, quoting both experts and reliable research data. We sincerely hope the appointment of the new minister for environment, forests and climate change will fast-track measures to curb these environmental onslaughts. The practice of looking the other way while polluters get a free reign must stop.