The government is set to appoint five executive magistrates for the Department of Environment (DoE) in a bid to speed up the ongoing drives for evicting the illegal brick kilns from the city and its adjoining areas.
Sources said that the Public Administration Ministry is going to appoint the magistrates very soon to comply with the directive of the High Court, the apex court of the country.
Earlier on Sunday, the High Court directed the ministry to appoint five executive magistrates for the DoE within one month for conducting mobile courts.
The High Court bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahsan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader issued the order.
On January 13, the High Court summoned the director general of the DoE to appear before it on February 2 to explain on air quality and its manpower.
Following the HC order, the DoE director general appeared before the court on Sunday with the explanation.
Advocate Manzill Murshid appeared for the writ petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Abdullah-Al-Mahmud Bashar represented the state and Advocate Amatul Karim the DoE.
The DoE director general said that they arranged a seminar on air pollution where experts and university teachers came up with several recommendations.
The director general presented the recommendations before the court.
Besides, the deputy attorney general presented several steps taken by the DoE.
On May 9 last, the DoE requested the Public Administration Ministry to appoint five executive magistrates. The ministry appointed only one magistrate in Khulna.
After knowing the matter, the court ordered appointment of five magistrates within one month.
Besides, the HC ordered to submit a report within March 10 comprising experts’ opinion and higher committee’s recommendations to stop air pollution.
Earlier, on January 27 last, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a writ petition attaching a report published in different newspapers on January 21 last year on air pollution in Dhaka.
On 28 January, the High Court ordered the DoE to conduct mobile court drives twice a week to take legal actions against those responsible for air pollution in the capital.
The court also asked the authorities concerned to take steps to encircle undergoing development areas and repair any damaged areas within 15 days to check the spread of dust. It also ordered to spray water in ‘dusk-prone’ areas twice a day.
The mayors of the two city corporations, executive officers and the DoE director general were asked to submit a report within two weeks on implementation of the court order.
The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the inactiveness of the local administration to prevent air pollution should not be declared illegal and why the authorities concerned should not be directed to take effective measures to prevent air pollution in the capital.