The High Court has ordered authorities to identify the most polluted areas of the country and submit a plan to reduce air pollution.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Maniruzzaman issued the order during a preliminary hearing on a writ filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
The court also ordered the installation of continuous air monitoring stations at appropriate places and introduction of an alert system to protect the people from hazardous air.
The respondents have been given four months to submit a report on the progress of the implementation of the directives.
The court is scheduled to hold the next hearing on June 26.
Bangladesh, especially its capital Dhaka, has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during monsoon.
Dhaka TribuneAccording to a recent study, the air of Gazipur is the most polluted in Bangladesh followed by Dhaka, while the residents of Madaripur breathe the cleanest air.
The industrial hub of Narayanganj has ranked as the third most polluted district in the country, says the study by the Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) of Stamford University published this month.
A 2019 report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognized as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.