Volume 18 Issue 17
Dhaka city has consistently ranked as one of the most polluted cities of the world due to brick kilns, cars running on fuel containing higher sulfur, massive uncoordinated mega construction work, poor waste control, emission of natural gas through leakage of gas distribution lines, etc. A report of the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) project of the Department of Environment (DoE) put the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Dhaka at 387 (out of 500 cities) on January 2018. Failure to put a check on thousands of heavily polluting brick kilns, completing mega infrastructure on time, containing dust plumes caused by haphazard construction – have all played their part in increasing health hazards for city residents, particularly elderly and the very young.
Activities of different agencies like DoE, Rajuk, Utility services, City Councils, ministries and departments, Law Enforcing agencies – all need to be properly coordinated. As Dhaka moves into the league of megacities with approximate population of more than 21 million residents, the need of the hour is to initiate a Metropolitan Governance System – examples of which are there in both developed and developing countries.
