Dhaka's environmental decline
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Raziur Rahman
In a city already overloaded with population, more people from all over the country are coming with desperate bid to settle. The influx of population has resulted in not only high density, but also growth of slums in a more alarming way.
Black smoke-emitting vehicles, coupled with absence of green in the city, have been contributing to the severe air pollution in the mega city. At present, more than three hundred thousand motor vehicles are running on the city roads. But due to shortage of manpower as well as negligence on the part of the concerned authorities, a large number of 'unfit' motor vehicles are running. It is one of the main reasons behind the air pollution in the capital.
The management of different kinds of wastes -- solid, clinical, human, industrial and others -- is very poor and the issues are not being addressed properly.
About 400 tons, out of 3,500 tons of solid waste generated in the city everyday, remains on the road and in the open spaces. Vehicles of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) remove the rest solid waste and carry those to its dumping grounds, which are again located in open places, contributing to air and water pollution in the areas in the immediate vicinity of Dhaka city.
Most of the tannery industries in the city's Hazaribagh area and some other industries at Tejgaon area leave hazardous industrial waste untreated. In the near future, the untreated waste of Tejgaon Industrial area, as some exports have feared, might severely pollute the underground water, which is still the only source of supply water in the city.
Meanwhile, the existing sewerage network of the city, which is faulty as well as inadequate, is unable to carry about half of the total sewage to the only sewage treatment plant at Pagla in Narayanganj. The city generates about 120 thousand cubic metres of sewage everyday.
However, two not-so-old studies suggested that the average noise levels in Dhaka city were almost double the permissible levels and were rising fast.
Thus, Dhaka is almost twice as loud as the law permits, creating an unhealthy environment for residents.
According to scientists, noise levels should remain below 70 decibels in the commercial areas, 65 decibels in the industrial areas and 50 decibels in the residential areas. Noise in sensitive areas, such as hospitals, clinics and schools, should remain below 45 decibels.
A huge quantity of sewage oozing out of the city's faulty sewerage network is severely polluting the city's canals, water bodies and the Buriganga River.
The porous sewage network is not only polluting the sources of fresh water in and around the city; it sometimes seeps into supply water lines posing serious health hazards for the residents of the capital.
When the faulty as well as inadequate sewage network has remained a constant threat to the city's public health, some unscrupulous people have been piling on the agony of the people by cultivating different types of fish in the lagoons where city sewage sludge is disposed. Those fishes are even being sold in the local markets and the unsuspecting public are buying those. Just to think of the cumulative impact of these negative factors on the environment, health and hygiene of the city's residents!
The capital city of 14 million people has already become a living hell. But there are still no visible steps to address the very deteriorating environmental as well as the general condition of life in this mega metropolis. The sooner the problems are looked into by the appropriate authorities, the better is the prospect that the looming environmental catastrophe for the city might be averted before it is too late.
In a city already overloaded with population, more people from all over the country are coming with desperate bid to settle. The influx of population has resulted in not only high density, but also growth of slums in a more alarming way.
Black smoke-emitting vehicles, coupled with absence of green in the city, have been contributing to the severe air pollution in the mega city. At present, more than three hundred thousand motor vehicles are running on the city roads. But due to shortage of manpower as well as negligence on the part of the concerned authorities, a large number of 'unfit' motor vehicles are running. It is one of the main reasons behind the air pollution in the capital.
The management of different kinds of wastes -- solid, clinical, human, industrial and others -- is very poor and the issues are not being addressed properly.
About 400 tons, out of 3,500 tons of solid waste generated in the city everyday, remains on the road and in the open spaces. Vehicles of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) remove the rest solid waste and carry those to its dumping grounds, which are again located in open places, contributing to air and water pollution in the areas in the immediate vicinity of Dhaka city.
Most of the tannery industries in the city's Hazaribagh area and some other industries at Tejgaon area leave hazardous industrial waste untreated. In the near future, the untreated waste of Tejgaon Industrial area, as some exports have feared, might severely pollute the underground water, which is still the only source of supply water in the city.
Meanwhile, the existing sewerage network of the city, which is faulty as well as inadequate, is unable to carry about half of the total sewage to the only sewage treatment plant at Pagla in Narayanganj. The city generates about 120 thousand cubic metres of sewage everyday.
However, two not-so-old studies suggested that the average noise levels in Dhaka city were almost double the permissible levels and were rising fast.
Thus, Dhaka is almost twice as loud as the law permits, creating an unhealthy environment for residents.
According to scientists, noise levels should remain below 70 decibels in the commercial areas, 65 decibels in the industrial areas and 50 decibels in the residential areas. Noise in sensitive areas, such as hospitals, clinics and schools, should remain below 45 decibels.
A huge quantity of sewage oozing out of the city's faulty sewerage network is severely polluting the city's canals, water bodies and the Buriganga River.
The porous sewage network is not only polluting the sources of fresh water in and around the city; it sometimes seeps into supply water lines posing serious health hazards for the residents of the capital.
When the faulty as well as inadequate sewage network has remained a constant threat to the city's public health, some unscrupulous people have been piling on the agony of the people by cultivating different types of fish in the lagoons where city sewage sludge is disposed. Those fishes are even being sold in the local markets and the unsuspecting public are buying those. Just to think of the cumulative impact of these negative factors on the environment, health and hygiene of the city's residents!
The capital city of 14 million people has already become a living hell. But there are still no visible steps to address the very deteriorating environmental as well as the general condition of life in this mega metropolis. The sooner the problems are looked into by the appropriate authorities, the better is the prospect that the looming environmental catastrophe for the city might be averted before it is too late.