Green activists voiced deep concern over serious dust pollution that grapples 90% of people living in Dhaka city.
They urged the authorities concerned to take effective steps to check it.
Speaking at a human chain program, they further said the intensity of dust pollution rises usually during winter due to road digging and delayed disposal of waste, causing the spread of various respiratory, allergy, and skin diseases.
Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba) and Nagorik Odhikar Sangrakkhan Forum, and other like minded organizations jointly organized the program in front of the Department of Fine Arts of Dhaka University in the city's Shahbagh area on Saturday.
Poba Chairman, Abu Naser Khan, General Secretary Ferdous Ahmed Ujjal, Nagorik Odhikar Sangrakkhan Forum General Secretary M Toyab Ali, Samajik Andolon Sangstha President Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, and Poribesh Andolon Mancha President Amir Hasan Masud, among others, addressed the program, said a press release.
They said around 40% of patients in the child wards of different hospitals get admitted with respiratory disorders during winter due to serious dust pollution.
Five among the top 10 causes of death in Bangladesh are related to air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.
Dhaka topped the list of US Air Quality Index (AQI) for having the worst air pollution in the world on January 30 last year.
The environmentalists said dust pollution is also hitting the economy hard, harming the environment, apart from causing public suffering and health hazards.
They demanded the government take immediate steps to check dust pollution and action against those responsible for it.
The green activists also put forward a 12-point recommendation, including removing construction material and excavated soil from the roadside quickly after repair work on the roads, cleaning the roads and footpaths regularly, not keeping construction materials in open places or beside the roads, taking effective steps against air pollution by different factories, and creating awareness among city dwellers about dust pollution and its adverse impact.