Old, ramshackle buses polluting Dhaka's air

Decades-old unfit public buses have become a key contributor to growing air pollution in Dhaka city as they continue to ply streets with the blessing of a faulty road-transport system led by private companies.
Old engines of these buses emit huge toxic emissions that have serious health effects than other sources of air pollution.
Dhaka is in such a severe condition that environment ministry in December advised sensitive individuals to avoid going outside as its air quality deteriorates unhealthy to hazardous.
The ministry in conjunction with the World Bank has recently prepared a "National Air Quality Management Plan" to improve Dhaka's air quality.
According to the report, public buses are responsible for 11 per cent of air pollution in the city.
Meanwhile, another study found fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) shortens the average Bangladeshi's life expectancy by 6.8 years.
The World Bank research said losses from air pollution in 2019 ranged from $11.5 billion to $13 billion, which was 3.9 per cent to 4.4 per cent of Bangladesh's GDP.
To address the situation, the government has made a move to phase out unfit and old buses of 20 years from Dhaka's streets from May 2025.
However, road transport experts believe the move is unlikely to succeed as private bus owners are indifferent to bring new vehicles on streets.
Road transport and bridges adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan last month said 20-year-old public transporters would not be allowed to rule the streets with an eye to protecting the environment.
He made the decision after the environment ministry sent a letter to the BRTA, calling for removing buses and trucks from roads and make emission testing of vehicles mandatory before issuing fitness certificates.
The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in a March 2024 report also showed the poor condition of public buses. It found 18.9 per cent of buses unregistered and 24 per cent unfit.
According to a 2023 report of the BRTA, 98.4 per cent of passengers travel in private transport. The total number of privately owned buses is 80,521.
Road transport expert Prof Moazzem Hossain of BUET told the FE that the entire road transport system here has become sarcastic as the authorities do not look sincere in solving the public transport problem.
"The government has invested millions of dollars in metrorail. It will only cost Tk 50-60 billion to modernise the entire public bus transport on a priority basis as public buses carry passengers threefold than facilities like metrorail."
This amount is needed as private companies are not interested to invest in the road transport sector and public transport operation would not bring any improvement, according to him.
"Private companies don't invest much in maintaining public buses. Therefore, the vehicles get old and become unfit earlier and they release toxic emissions causing air pollution," explained Prof Hossain.
He also doubts the government's move to remove old buses as the same may return in another form. "The authorities couldn't succeed in controlling easy-bikes and auto-rickshaws from main roads."
"Therefore, we must change the public bus transportation system," emphasised Prof Hossain.
Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, a professor of environmental science at Stamford University and also director, Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), echoed the same view on the issue.
"As private companies want to make a windfall with low investment, they don't spend on maintenance and do not want to launch new buses."
According to Prof Majumder, 0.5-0.6 million old buses are in the country. These unfit vehicles were supposed to be dumped after running for 20 years.
"These old vehicles are responsible for 15 per cent of the city's air pollution. Furthermore, old and unfit vehicles are a major cause of accidents. You needn't be an expert to understand the unfit condition of public buses," he told the FE.
An estimated 5.2-million vehicles in the country are registered with the BRTA. Of them, 1.8 million are operating in Dhaka, including 0.9 million motorbikes. One-third of the remaining 1.0 million buses, trucks and others are unfit, Prof Majumder said, citing official data.
Showing air pollution's link with unfit vehicles, experts said Dhaka's air is mostly polluted by micro particles that come from such vehicles, especially from buses.
Tapan Kumar Biswas, additional secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, says his ministry is determined to improve air quality through taking a number of initiatives.
The ministry in a joint move with the BRTA, RAJUK and DMP are executing the jobs, including the phase-out of old buses from the country.
"We've increased our manpower, including magistrates, to operate mobile courts to ensure environment-friendly road transport," he told the FE.

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