Another eye-opening environmental report

That Bangladesh has ranked 4th from bottom in a survey conducted by World Health Organisation (WHO) on air pollution comes as a shock. The Ambient Air Pollution database is a compilation of data of 1,600 cities from 91 countries. To be ranked with countries like Afghanistan, which secured 2nd position is hardly salutary for a country like Bangladesh that is aspiring to become a middle income country by 2021. Our cities have not fared well in the assessment where Narayanganj comes in as the 17th worst polluted city and Dhaka not doing too well takes the 23rd position.
Putting these rankings in perspective, we find that a mere 12 per cent of people living in the worst hit cities breathe air that conforms to WHO air quality pollution levels. By the world body's estimates, air pollution is now the single largest environmental health risk. The wilful dumping of industrial toxins and unregulated spewing of harmful gaseous pollutants from environmentally-unfriendly factories including brick kilns result in transmitting harmful substances like carbon monoxide, sulphur and nitrogen oxide and other pollutants into the air that is degrading the atmosphere and putting to risk the health of millions.
Department of environment, which is the regulatory body to handle and oversee pollution is undermanned to the point of being sorely unable to enforce its authority nationwide. The government has to meet this critical deficit. Key to a turnaround is in decisive political will to enforce coordination of all agencies involved in environmental protection.