Dhaka's air and transport services deserve attention
Thursday, 11 November 2010
The government is never short of projects and programmes avowedly to 'protect' or 'conserve' the environment but nothing seems to work. Last year it pledged to clean up the air in Dhaka, which is so laden with pollutants as to turn this dense capital into a virtual gas chamber, compounding the burden of various cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The number of motor vehicles continue to grow, clogging roads and poisoning people while squeezing out cyclists and pedestrians and the much maligned, but environment-friendly rickshaw. Despite the government's claims of not permitting very old, highly polluting vehicles in the city, unscrupulous individuals and so-called companies are seen too often, brazenly running the most dilapidated junks on long distance routes, spewing black exhaust with abandon.
Vehicular and industrial exhaust, construction work, waste dumping, incineration activities and the like, have been pushing up the urban concentration of suspended particulates so high as to be literally tangible, specially during dry, rainless seasons. The last Air Quality Monitoring Project (AQMP), two years ago, had claimed the same, although there was a short respite, following the phase-out of two-stroke engines from Dhaka in the early part of this decade. Fine suspended particulate matter (PM), measured in micrograms per cubic metre, should not be more than 2.5 mcm, according to WHO. Highly polluted cities, however, have been allowed an 'interim target' of 70 mcm but Dhaka's load is said to be three times that amount.
After the two-stroke ban, fine particulates had come down by fifty per cent ---- from 266 mcm in 2003 to 147 mcm in 2004. But by 2008, AQMP measurements found that it had gone up again -- to 191.83 mcm. As for solid particles (PM-10), it was 330 mcm in 2003 and 238 in 2004, reaching 291 mcm in 2008. Much of this is blamed on the rise of diesel-run buses and trucks and the large number of unfit and dilapidated vehicles that refuse to retire from the capital's roads, spewing out more carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen and sulphur than new, reconditioned and well-maintained combustion engines.
Given the fact that it is the very nature of motor vehicles to give off toxic fumes, decision makers ought to focus more seriously on controlling per capita exhaust by commissioning good quality transport that can carry more commuters per trip. A respectable, adequate and efficient public transport system therefore should include a circular shuttle train service as soon as possible. If these minimum services are put in place private car owners would gladly avail them or ply only during off-peak hours. Many advanced cities have opted for this action to manage traffic congestion and keep car exhaust down.
Another aspect that ought to be addressed is the standard of the 'built environment' of vehicles under both private and government ownership so that passengers can sit -- as well as stand, if need be -- comfortably. Most of those serving Dhaka at the moment have not been ergonomically designed, so to say, nor do they abide by the minimum standards of cleanliness. Worst of all, successive governments have ignored the necessity of constructing respectable bus stops that shelter commuters during rain and shine. More professionally run transport services are called for, deserving of the capital of Bangladesh.
Vehicular and industrial exhaust, construction work, waste dumping, incineration activities and the like, have been pushing up the urban concentration of suspended particulates so high as to be literally tangible, specially during dry, rainless seasons. The last Air Quality Monitoring Project (AQMP), two years ago, had claimed the same, although there was a short respite, following the phase-out of two-stroke engines from Dhaka in the early part of this decade. Fine suspended particulate matter (PM), measured in micrograms per cubic metre, should not be more than 2.5 mcm, according to WHO. Highly polluted cities, however, have been allowed an 'interim target' of 70 mcm but Dhaka's load is said to be three times that amount.
After the two-stroke ban, fine particulates had come down by fifty per cent ---- from 266 mcm in 2003 to 147 mcm in 2004. But by 2008, AQMP measurements found that it had gone up again -- to 191.83 mcm. As for solid particles (PM-10), it was 330 mcm in 2003 and 238 in 2004, reaching 291 mcm in 2008. Much of this is blamed on the rise of diesel-run buses and trucks and the large number of unfit and dilapidated vehicles that refuse to retire from the capital's roads, spewing out more carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen and sulphur than new, reconditioned and well-maintained combustion engines.
Given the fact that it is the very nature of motor vehicles to give off toxic fumes, decision makers ought to focus more seriously on controlling per capita exhaust by commissioning good quality transport that can carry more commuters per trip. A respectable, adequate and efficient public transport system therefore should include a circular shuttle train service as soon as possible. If these minimum services are put in place private car owners would gladly avail them or ply only during off-peak hours. Many advanced cities have opted for this action to manage traffic congestion and keep car exhaust down.
Another aspect that ought to be addressed is the standard of the 'built environment' of vehicles under both private and government ownership so that passengers can sit -- as well as stand, if need be -- comfortably. Most of those serving Dhaka at the moment have not been ergonomically designed, so to say, nor do they abide by the minimum standards of cleanliness. Worst of all, successive governments have ignored the necessity of constructing respectable bus stops that shelter commuters during rain and shine. More professionally run transport services are called for, deserving of the capital of Bangladesh.