REPORTEDLY, air pollution in Dhaka city still afflicts on average 150,000 people every year. The figures point to the acute necessity of further introducing and enforcing existing rules and regulations against air pollution for reducing the number who get exposed to this form of pollution.
Government may fall back on the argument that it does not directly have to allocate additional resources to treat pollution-related health problems. But on the economic side such arguments are irrational because resources are scarce and the concept of proper use of resources dictate economy in the spending of the same. Even those who spend money privately to treat pollution-related sicknesses could certainly spend the same better on useful and productive purposes if they faced no requirement to spend it on medical care. The same reasoning applies to governmental spending in the area.
There is no way to look slightly at the pollution-related costs. The number of physical sufferers from pollution who need treatment is rising in spite of the earlier withdrawal of the most polluting three-wheelers from Dhaka's metropolitan areas. There is an urgent need to take follow-up steps for similar withdrawal or decommissioning of aged buses and trucks that seem to be eluding official instructions through repainting to look younger and managing papers from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to the effect that they are still roadworthy. In this context, well-concerted measures are necessary for combating air pollution, particularly in the capital city.
S A Karim
Eskaton, Dhaka
Combating air pollution in the city
FE Team | Published: September 29, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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