Emissions of fine particles or flying dust from construction on the roads is causing environmental havoc in many parts of the country as winter knocks on the door.
Even worse, vehicle exhaust, on top of the dust, bring a sharp spike in air pollution levels threatening public health, especially respiratory diseases. It is generally observed that the authorities concern in the capital and in the surrounding areas have repeatedly failed to effectively clamp down on such polluters depriving peoples’ right to enjoy and live in ‘clean environment’.
This correspondent, during his Sunday’s visits to the city’s Airport to Chowrasta point in Gazipur district, met nightmare when he witnessed smog covering almost the entire length of his journey by a public bus.
Visibility there was hardly five to six meters as thick smog covered the bus route. Coincidentally, Dhaka on Saturday was ranked the second worst city in the world in terms of air quality, which is said to be common for the capital since past decade or so.
With the on set of winter, air quality every year dips to its worst as finer dust participles fill the air around the city roads, especially where constructions are in progress. Unfortunately, there is hardly any safeguard in sight to protect public health in such construction sites.
Habibur Rahman, a resident of Tongi area, said that he is exposed to dust everyday as he travels to his office in Uttar from his home.
“The dust, constantly in the air is unbearable. Imagine I am a victim of such environmental pollution being an adult and my it could be worst for my children,” said Rahman sharing his anger.
Like Habibur, thousands of people using busy Gazipur to Uttar road are exposed to such constant flying dust pollution from road construction where heavy-duty trucks continuously load and unload sand, stone chips and asphalt racing against time to complete the road construction under a time-bound project.
Although it was supposed to spray and sprinkle water on the roads in a bid to prevent the fine particles from flying into the air, local people alleged that authorities hardly care to do so.
Shoriful Islam, a roadside shopkeeper in Tongi, said, “In last one month, I have never noticed water being sprayed on this road.”
Navid Alam, another shopkeeper at Board Bazar market in Gazipur said, “Dust has made our life miserable. It got worse with the onset of the pre-winter weather. The condition of shops, businesses and houses along the highway is awful.”
Separate lanes are being constructed from the airport to Gazipur crossroads under the BRT project. The project is being implemented to ensure environment-friendly and speedy public transport system between Dhaka and Gazipur. Under this project, one flyover will be constructed in Dhaka and five in Gazipur.
Abdus Salam Sarkar, Deputy Director of Department of Environment at Gazipur District, said, “BRT is a priority-based development project of the government. Expenditure has been included in the project to prevent air pollution. Contractors for the BRT project have been warned of dangerous levels of air and sound pollution. Even after that the situation did not improve.”
Meanwhile, according to Air Quality Index (AQI), Dhaka’s air quality remains worse due to air and dust pollution.
On Saturday [December 5] evening, Dhaka ranked the second worst in AQI among all the countries in the world with AQI value of 310, which is hazardous. On Sunday evening, the AQI value was 210, which is very unhealthy. The city has been continuously staying among the most polluted cities around the world.
The AQI is a tool for measuring daily air quality of any city or country. It refers to the degree of pollution or cleanliness of the air. The higher AQI score refers to the higher degrees of pollution.
An AQI score between 101 and 150 indicates ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ while AQI score between 151 and 200 refers to ‘unhealthy air for all people’. AQI score between 201 and 300 indicates the air is ‘very unhealthy’ while a value over 300 indicates the air is ‘hazardous (highly dangerous) with possible serious health complications’.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants including Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).
Professor Abdus Salam, an air quality specialist at Dhaka University, told Bangladesh Post, “Rules and regulations are not being followed even in the case of development work. It has been known to remove soil after digging the road. Instead, soil and sand are left on the road. It becomes dust after they dry up and flies in the air. After all, we are moving towards a dangerous pollution.”