Curbing Air Pollution: Govt keeps going back on its decisions

When it comes to reducing air pollution, the government seems to be backtracking on its decisions.

In 2019, the environment ministry made a plan to phase out clay bricks by 2025. But the government is now revising the plan, and may push back the target to 2028.

In August 2023, the government chose not to implement its decision to cap the economic life of buses at 20 years and trucks at 25. This means tens of thousands of old and run-down vehicles, a major source of pollution, may remain on roads.

Experts say the air quality is worsening, and by not implementing its decisions, the authorities are aggravating the situation.

A key indicator of air quality is the amount of PM2.5 in the air. PM stands for particulate matter and 2.5 refers to size.

According to the Department of Environment, since 2018, the annual average concentration of PM 2.5 in air has been between 83.24 and 104.20 micrograms per cubic metre.

Due to its small size, PM2.5 is able to penetrate deep into the human respiratory system, and from there to the entire body, causing a wide range of short- and long-term health issues.

Contacted, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, minister for environment, forests, and climate change, said, "We took some measures to curb the air pollution, but there was a gap in implementation."

The government will soon launch a 100-day programme to identify the sources of air pollution and make plans to combat it, he said.

According to the Air Quality Life Index 2023, released by the University of Chicago recently, the people of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 level is 74 micrograms per cubic metre, would gain 6.8 years of life if the level was brought down to 5 micrograms per cubic metre, recommended by the WHO.

Rapid urbanisation, brick kilns, biomass burning, unregulated construction, old vehicles, use of poor quality fossil fuel, and transboundary air quality are the main causes of poor air quality in Bangladesh, experts say.

"We all know the sources of emission, but we don't do anything about it. That's why the situation is worsening day by day. The time has come to take decisive action," said Abdus Salam, a professor of chemistry at Dhaka University.

The situation will not improve unless the government takes a well-planned approach, he added.

DoE officials said air quality improves when it rains, but there was less rain last year.

Between 2017 and 2021, Bangladesh received $2.3 billion to combat air pollution. The country was the third top recipient of international funds to curb air pollution after China and the Philippines, according to The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2023.

Experts say funding is not a problem for Bangladesh. Rather, lack of proper action is the issue.

Ziaul Haque, DoE director (air quality), said, "We have taken several steps. But the problem is that no one abides by our directives."

The DoE has taken several long-term programmes. It will take some time for them to yield results, he said.

There are over 7,500 brick kilns in the country. If the number is brought down to 2,000, the situation will improve, he said.

"Run-down vehicles should not be on roads. Also, different government agencies must work in a coordinated way because dust is a key source of pollution," he said.

Four South Asian countries -- Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan -- have agreed to drastically bring down the annual average PM2.5 to 35 microgrammes per cubic metre by 2030.

The World Bank in December 2022 published a report titled Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia. It said that owing to the predominant wind direction from the northwest to the southeast, 30 percent of the air pollution in Dhaka, Chattogram, and Khulna originates in India.

While existing government measures can reduce particulate matter, significant reduction is possible only if territories spanning the airsheds -- areas affected by the same air mass -- implement coordinated policies, according to the report.

Terming the air quality "critical",  Saber said the government is thinking of issuing alerts to make people aware of the poor air quality.

"If needed, circulars will be issued asking educational institutions to close considering the health hazards," he said.