The image that has come up in the air pollution related study report of World Bank is both concerning and unusual. It goes without saying that the air pollution has been continuously rising in Bangladesh.
From the perspective of air pollution, there seems to be a competition going on between Bangladesh's capital Dhaka and Indian capital Delhi. Defeating Delhi, Dhaka becomes the champion sometimes.
The report titled ‘Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in south Asia’ which got published last Thursday stated, among the air pollution sources of Dhaka about four per cent are natural sources and six per cent internal sources.
Almost 28 per cent polluted air emanates from across the border.
Polluted air coming from other divisions and districts of the country are also polluting the air of the capital.
Polluted air of other divisions and districts contribute a little more than 60 per cent in polluting the air of Dhaka.
Polluted air from across the border contributes to 30 per cent of air pollution in Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna. However, polluted air from Bangladesh travels to India as well.
As the saying goes, air and birds don’t care about the border. Birds of one country doesn’t harm other countries, But, polluted air causes serious damage.
Earlier another report of this agency titled ‘Breathing Heavy: New Evidence on Air Pollution and Health’ had stated that the number of death from various diseases in the air pollution-prone areas of the country is on the rise.
At the same time, people are suffering more from depression in the areas where there is high air pollution.
88,000 people died because of air pollution in the country in 2019. About 14 per cent residents of the polluted areas are suffering from depression.
Dhaka division tops the list of air pollution in the country, followed by Barisal division. On the opposite, the pollution rate is comparatively low in Sylhet.
When the pollution increases above World Health Organization (WHO) standards by only 1 per cent, the number of people suffering from depression increases 20 times.
Three factors have been identified as major sources of pollution, smoke coming out of vehicles, brick kilns and infrastructural construction in the dry season. Outdated vehicles running on the roads also add to the level of smoke.
Abdus Salam, a professor at the chemistry department of Dhaka University as well as a researcher on air quality, told Prothom Alo that the countries of the Indo-Gangetic region are among those areas of the world that produces the most polluted air.
There are more coal-based power plants in this region. Rapid infrastructure construction and urbanisation are also giving rise to dust production.
Apart from that, the rural population of the region now uses extensive amount of fossil fuels for cooking and heating in winter.
The necessity of fuel for survival cannot be denied. But we have to keep an eye on how to get this fuel for less pollution.
Many developed countries have stopped using coal-based fuels and stressed on the use of renewable energy sources because of pollution. Yet we are emphasising on the coal-fired power plants with the use of renewable energy to only some extent.
The environment department has the responsibility of preventing air pollution. Except for occasional drives in various institutions for the sake of maintaining formalities, the organisation has no such visible activities.
The issue of the environment is quite extensive. For this, it is necessary to establish a separate directorate in prevention of air pollution.
On the whole, it’s impossible to prevent air pollution without comprehensive and all-out planning at the international level.