It is disconcerting to note that Bangladesh was ranked fourth among 91 countries with worst urban air quality in the latest air pollution monitoring report of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Reports in the media last week say three Bangladesh cities were also put among the top 25 cities with poorest air. The 2014 version of the Ambient Air Pollution (AAP) database consists mainly of urban air quality data of 1600 cities from 91 countries.
According to the reports, Pakistan was shown as the worst country in the category with Qatar and Afghanistan ranking second and third. Iran, Egypt, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, India and Bahrain take the other spots in the worst ten.
In the city-wise assessment, Narayanganj was marked as the 17th city with worst air quality whereas Gazipur and Dhaka were ranked 21st and 23rd respectively. In the report, six of the top 10 cities with highest air pollution were from neighbouring India with Delhi taking the first spot.
The report says that almost 90 per cent of people living in the cities are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. Outdoor air pollution killed 3.7 million people in 2012 and the WHO says it is now the world's largest single environmental health risk. The report also states only 12 per cent of people are living in cities that conform to the WHO air quality guideline levels. The report was more extensive than a similar database released by the WHO in 2011.
The report on Bangladesh was prepared on the basis of the monthly air quality monitoring data of 2013 of the Department of Environment (DoE), Bangladesh. The DoE has set up air quality monitoring stations in eight cities including Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna and Sylhet.
Though Narayanganj has the highest level of gaseous pollutants, the report shows the air of the northern metropolis Rajshahi contains the highest level of dust particles. Among the gaseous pollutants which the DoE measures are carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and ozone (O3), methane and non-methane pollutants.
Meantime, air pollution in the capital city Dhaka has gone higher than Mexico City and Mumbai killing thousands prematurely each year. According to the DoE, the density of airborne particulate matter (PM) reaches 463 micrograms per cubic meter (mcm) in the city during December-March period -- the highest level in the world. Mexico City and Mumbai follow Dhaka with 383 and 360mcm respectively.
An estimated 15,000 premature deaths, as well as several million cases of pulmonary, respiratory and neurological illness are attributed to poor air quality in Dhaka, according to the Air Quality Management Project (AQMP), funded by the government and the World Bank.
Vehicular air pollution is a major cause of respiratory distress in urban Bangladesh. If pregnant mothers come across excessive pollution, it may cause premature death of their children. According to the National Institute of Diseases of Chest and Hospital (NIDCH), nearly seven million people in Bangladesh suffer from asthma; more than half of them are children.
Cases of children suffering from bronchitis and chronic cough have also shot up in recent years. Children breathe more air relative to their lung size than adults. They spend more time outdoors, often during midday and afternoons when pollution levels are generally highest. WHO air quality guidelines (2005) recommend a maximum acceptable PM level of 20mcm; cities with 70mcm are considered highly polluted. Airborne lead is the worst of the harmful PMs.
By penetrating the lungs and entering the blood stream, lead may cause irreversible neurological damage as well as renal disease, cardiovascular effects, and reproductive toxicity. The phasing out of petrol-driven two-stroke auto-rickshaws in 2003 and their replacement with four-stroke versions, which use a much cleaner burning fuel (compressed natural gas), significantly decreased the volume of air contaminants. Yet, according to DoE sources, a sharp increase in the number of vehicles and construction sites in 2004-2008 led to a deterioration of Dhaka's air quality.
Old, poorly serviced vehicles, dust from roads and construction sites, and toxic fumes from industrial sites are major sources of air pollution. Traffic congestion and smoke from brick kilns are also responsible for air pollution in Dhaka city. The ministry of environment and forests says that vehicles in Dhaka move 14kmph on an average, which is very slow and causes them to burn more fuel and contribute to air pollution. They say the average speed could come down to 4kmph by 2025 if things do not improve.
Faulty vehicles, smoke from brick kilns, dust from construction sites and toxic fumes from industries are the main sources of particulate matter. Environment officials who conducted a pre-study before the joint assessment for CASE say around 60 per cent of city air pollution is caused by thousands of unfit and faulty vehicles, especially those that run on diesel. They say vehicles older than 20 years could not be taken off the city streets. These vehicles add to city traffic, congestion and air pollution.
The density of airborne particulate matter is around 250 micrograms per cubic metre in Dhaka, which is five times the acceptable level of 50 set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of Bangladesh. Dhaka air consists of common pollutants, including particulate matter, sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ground-level ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), sulphates and nitrates. Dhaka is surrounded by brick kilns which have been contributing its air pollution.
The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project has a brick kiln component which aims to usher in a new era in brick manufacturing in Bangladesh. Under the project, the DoE will work towards changing the institutional, legal and regulatory framework. To that effect, the project will provide technical support to the newly established Brick Advisory Committee in an effort to make the industry green.
What is, otherwise, needed at this stage is that Bangladesh must do something to get rid of serious air pollution sweeping across the country. The adoption of cleaner technologies and their full implementation is expected to go a long way in reaching the desired destination.
szkhan@dhaka.net
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