That Dhaka City has long become an overturned cauldron in months marked by high temperature is known to its inhabitants. It is because they experience the scorching heat at its merciless sizzling worst. Now the World Bank in its report titled 'The unsustainable life: The impact of heat on health and the economy of Bangladesh' points to a worst case scenario likely to unfold within a short time. By 2030, the global warming poses a risk to unsettle both life and livelihoods. Although the maximum temperature in the country has not risen beyond 1.1 per cent, the 'feels like' temperature soared 4.5 degree Celsius with the consequence of fatigue on the part of the working class in particular leading to undesirable ailments.
Such health problems are linked to performances by people engaged in different occupations and the economy in general. The WB reckons that the consequent economic losses could in between $1.33 billion and 1.78 billion representing about0.3 to 0.4 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Loss of human productivity is no good news for a country struggling to employ its vast army of the unemployed.
Sadly, Bangladesh with its carbon emission staying far below the threshold is the 7th most vulnerable country in terms of climate change. Here the country can take some measures to offset a number of the adverse impacts of the unpredictable and tumultuous ecology now sparing not even the rich and developed countries in the world. But in the global context, the reversal of global action courtesy of US President Donald Trump certainly leaves hardly any room for improving conditions in poorer and smaller countries all across the planet Earth.
Given such conditions, 65 per cent higher rise in the heat index for Dhaka compared with the temperature increase registered for the rest of Bangladesh presents a dismal picture. Yet in this disturbing picture, there lies some solution to the problem. Dhaka has turned into a veritable hellish urban conundrum thanks to rapid depletion of its green space with denudation of 47 per cent of its dense green cover between 1989 and 2020 with the conversion of land into built-up areas from 1999. By this time, its green space had dwindled to just 5,600 hectares from 12,745 hectares.
In contrast, Dhaka's total area grew by 19 per cent as against the population growth by nearly 77 per cent. Such an overcrowded city with little green space and many of its mindless use of construction materials for building such as glass walls known for heat trapping has made the situation even worse. Filling up water bodies like ponds, canals and use of water retention areas for housing have significantly contributed to the city's warming up beyond limit. What a pity, the environmental concerns have been undermined by the commercial interests of real estate business. Dhaka City's original Detailed Area Plan (DAP) has undergone changes at least twice in order to accommodate the demands from the real estate business. Even the last one is under pressure for bringing about change to it.
The way Dhaka has been maltreated over the decades points to the fact that it may not be a liveable city at some point. True, Dhaka is not the whole country but as the administrative and commercial hubs, its importance cannot be overstated. Yet policy failure and ill planning of the city's space has rendered it messy and inefficient on most of the counts.
Sure enough, decentralisation of administration and important infrastructure such as educational institution and hospitals could remarkably ease the pressure off. Why should patients rush to Dhaka for better healthcare if such facilities could be available at districts and upazilas? Similarly, if village and union schools and colleges offered quality education, there was no need for students to frantically look for admission to a reputed school or college in the capital. Some of the departments under the ministries could also be shifted to suitable locations in districts and even smaller towns.
If and when large cities have a reasonably smaller size of population, the heat-trapping mechanism can well be taken care of. One of the suicidal practices is the extraction of underground water which is no longer replenished because of a lack of uncovered grounds on the surface of urban centres. In case of a powerful earthquake, the consequences may be cataclysmic for mega cities like Dhaka.
Before the heat domes that give people in the affected areas nightmarish experiences also descend---as they did in Canada and some northern parts of the United States of America (USA)--- on this small geographical entity, even this land can take a lesson from its own past. The entire country can opt for creation of green covers by planting more and more trees. Fruit orchards have been developed significantly. But the highways, district roads and the networks of upazila connecting villages can be used for planting indigenous trees including fruit trees. Brigades of local people can be formed to take care of such trees so that the lion's share of the benefits helps them economically. To offset the 'wet bulb' heat syndrome also, there is no other alternative to developing maximum green spaces all over the country.
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com