Waste disposal in Narayanganj city has been a long-standing issue, with locals always complaining about having to live in a smelly mess.
To many residents, it seems like a punishment for no offence.
“The more the night progresses, the smell gets worse. Stomach aches, vomiting, and headaches have become regular affairs for us,” says Lipi Begum, a resident of Ward No 18 under Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC).
The NCC, responsible for keeping the city clean and livable, has turned a nine bigha-land in Al Amin Nagar area into an unofficial dumping station for household and medical wastes.
Lipi is one of the unfortunate residents who own a home right next to the dumpster. Her house that she built with all her life’s savings is now abandoned as the putrid odour wafting out of the waste has led her to move her family to a rented house nearby.
The house shook when the garbage trucks raked the waste out, resulting in cracks in the walls, Lipi told Dhaka Tribune.
She added that it got to a point where rainwater seeped through the cracks, destroying her belongings.
This has been going on for the last three years and Lipi chose to keep mum from fear of retribution.
“Bad smell, flies, these are all part of our life now. I have to live in a rented house despite having my own home. Only God knows how we managed to pay the rent during the pandemic,” she said.
Outsiders rarely visit the area due to the odour, Lipi said, adding that this was becoming a hindrance in her marrying off her daughter.
Day labourer Karim Mia is in a similar situation.
“If I speak up, they might take away my home. I’d rather keep trying to cope with reality,” he said.
Not only do many have to live in a garbage-infested neighborhood, allegations of charging more than the fees, set by the city corporation, for garbage collection have also surfaced.
People complain of having to pay four or five times the set amount.
However, Narayanganj Mayor Dr Selina Hayat Ivy has promised a speedy resolution to the problem through the implementation of a waste-to-energy project.
According to NCC sources, when Narayanganj used to be a municipality, waste used to be dumped in Panchaboti area. When a park was built there, the authorities started using Jallar Par area. After the establishment of Nagar Russel Park, Al Amin Nagar has become an unofficial waste disposal facility.
Around 200 trucks dump garbage, mostly household wastes collected from 15 wards, at Al Amin Nagar every day.
“We understand that people are facing problems, but what can we do?” says Rubel, a staffer at the dump yard.
“Mayor Ivy gave us trucks. All we now need is a place to dumb the garbage,” he added.
The city authorities said that nearly 1,000 tons of medical and household waste are produced in three areas every day. Some 500 tons of garbage zre collected from 56,000 holdings under 18 out of the 27 wards of the NCC. The process is supervised by NGOs and the CDC.
The garbage is then disposed of in four dumping stations, including Al Amin Nagar, Jalkuri and Nabiganj.
The rest of the garbage is dumped into canals, rivers and drains, or left on the streets.
On the other hand, there are 45 clinics and diagnostic centres as well as two hospitals under the city corporation that produce around five tons of trash.
The medical waste dumped in Matuail is collected under the supervision of Aid Bangladesh and Prism Bangladesh. NCC Waste Management Division employee Alamgir Hiron said: “It’s not possible for us to dump the waste of all the wards at the designated site.”
“Hence, the NGOs tasked with collecting the garbage are using rented sites for dumping,” he said, adding that the waste-based power plant will transform Narayanganj into a clean and environment-friendly city.
Authorities say they will buy land in the Bandar area to set up a permanent garbage ground under a development project.
Responding to queries on garbage collectors charging extra fees, the official said: “It’s true. We’ve received a lot of complaints about it.”
Even though the NCC fixed Tk20 as the fee, some NGOs are collecting Tk100 or 150, according to Alamgir Hiron.
NCC waste-to-energy project
The city authorities undertook the project in the Jalkuri area. Of the estimated budget of over Tk345crore, the NCC has got more than Tk330 crore.
Already 23.28 acres of land have been bought at Jalkuri for Tk299 crore. The remaining Tk31crore will be spent on a 2.18km RCC drain, compost plant and other amenities for a fully-functioning waste disposal facility.
The NCC also signed a deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to recycle 600 tons of waste every day to produce 6 megawatts of electricity.
Under the agreement, a Chinese firm was awarded the tender to implement the project. Officials say that 95% of the project has been completed.
NCC City Planner Moinul Islam says the entire work will be done in the next 18 months.
He toured a few countries, including Denmark and Japan, to get familiarized with the process.
The official told Dhaka Tribune that such a large-scale waste-to-energy project is the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Even though some small projects were initiated, those were not cost-effective and eventually shut down.
Narayanganj City has two major types of waste: medical and household.
Of the 1,000 tons of waste produced every day, 600 tons will be separated for energy production. The rest of the waste will be processed and reused by the recyclable and medical waste machines, he explained.
Power plant’s effect on environment
The biodegradable waste will be separated and put in a pit where the decomposed liquid will be collected. The liquid will be processed at 1,100 degrees Celsius to produce electricity. For this project, in order to produce electricity, the calorific value needs to be 1,500. But Narayanganj waste has 1,350.
Moinul hopes that the city will be free of trash in around five years.
“However, until this waste-to-energy project is fully implemented, a process to procure 70 acres of land in Bandar for a permanent dumping station is underway,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
He added that the estimated cost of the land was Tk345crore.
According to the Department of Environment Narayanganj unit Deputy Director Abdullah Al Mamun, the project will have a relatively low effect on the environment.
“When the waste is left open, the methane gas goes directly into the air, affecting the environment,” he said.
He added that the project would significantly help bring down the much prevalent air pollution as well.
