Our Correspondent
RAJSHAHI, May 26: Whenever the people are out of their houses, their eyes irritate and tears spilled out. It looks as though they were weeping all the time. Such situation is prevailing for a long time among the residents living at Seroil, a densely populated city area.
The cause of such round the clock tears has been identified as release of Ammonia gas from the melted Urea fertiliser at the storehouse of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). The toxic Ammonia gas emitted from melted Urea was nearly suffocating the children and the elderly people. People living in the locality were facing a great health hazard. They have held a press conference for the second time on Thursday to shift the store house of BCIC from the locality.
It is learnt, about 100 families of Seroil colony who were living near the godown were suffering from various diseases from the toxic effect of the Ammonia gas. For a long time, the residents of the area were demanding to shift the storehouse to other place but there was no effect. Earlier on 26 February residents of the area had held a press conference at the same demand.
On Thursday, the press conference was arranged at a local restaurant by Syeda Shamsunnaher Mukti, fellow of Democracy International and executive member of city unit of Awami League. In the press conference she mentioned, the storehouse is always laden with excessive fertiliser out of its capacity. These excess fertilisers are left under open sky outside the godown. The fertiliser is melted in sunshine and in the rain and produce toxic ammonia gas creating obnoxious smell which suffocates the local residents. People who live beside the godown area always suffer from irritating, tearful eyes, hiccups and other diseases. Advocate Syeda Shamsunnaher Mukti in this connection mentioned, her chamber was situated beside the godown of BCIC. It was impossible to sit at her chamber and at night, the toxic emission becomes unbearable. Her clients did not visit her chamber due to obnoxious smell and even no man wants to rent any house in this locality.
Anowar Hossain, a grocer at the locality, said the days sunshine used the melt the fertiliser and in the afternoon and at evening the smell of Ammonia is so intense that it was unbearable to the residents. Marium Begum, another resident of the locality said, they always try to avoid the raod beside BCIC godown. Whenever they need to walk through the road, they wrap their mouth and noses with pieces of cloths.
The press conference was attended, among others, by Golam Mostafa Mamun, organising secretary of Rajshahi district unit of BNP and Badsha Sheikh, vice president of ward unit of Awami League. They said the problem of the godown and ammonia emitting from the stored fertiliser is not a political problem it was a problem of people of the area. They said people of the area want to live and to take breath in fresh air.
The speakers at the press conference also mentioned, 150 people of the locality collected mass signatures earlier on February 08 last and submitted it to the Department of Environment. But, so far there was no action in this connection. The residents of the area threatened to start a movement if the BCIC storehouse is not shifted from there soon.
Mamun Ur Rashid, deputy director of the Department of Environment of Rajshahi, said the department has already sent to letter to the authorities of BCIC requesting not to store fertiliser under open sky. But the BCIC authorities are yet to take any action in this regard. Deb Dulal Dhali, deputy director of DAE said the godown is managed from Dhaka and he has no authority to ask the concerned authority to shift it to other place.
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