Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on Sunday said buses over 20 years old should be withdrawn.
“The buses should not be allowed to ply after 20 years of being on the road. There will be no compromise in this regard,” Saber Hossain Chowdhury said while addressing a view exchange meeting on air pollution at the conference room of the ministry in Bangladesh Secretariat.
He added Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will send the list of the outdated buses now plying the city road by April 8.
“And the transport owners association will provide a plan to withdraw outdated buses by April 20. These buses have already exceeded their economic life. So that these outdated vehicles must be withdrawn to prevent air pollution in Dhaka city,” he added.
He said that the budget which is allocated to combat pollution must be implemented.
Titas Gas, Power Sector, WASA and City Corporations must work in a coordinated way so that the development activities will run smoothly in the capital Dhaka.
The minister further said that the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has to stop importing diesel with Sulfur. The City Corporation must not allow to burn the garbage on the city streets.
“The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), City Corporation and police should cover the construction materials,” Saber Hossain
He said that the old vehicles must be scrapped in full compliance with the rules. If RAJUK fails to comply with the relevant conditions of environmental pollution control, the permission of the related construction activities will be cancelled, he warned.
Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Public Works Nabirul Islam, Additional Secretary (administration) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Iqbal Abdullah Haroon, Additional Secretary of the ministry Tapan Kumar Biswas, Additional Secretary (Environment) Dr. Fahmida Khanam, Director General of Department of Environment (DoE) Dr. Abdul Hamid, Chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Noor Mohammad Majumdar, Vice President of Bangladesh Road Transport Association Mahbubur Rahman and President of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association Ajmal Uddin Ahmed were present at the meeting.