Bangladesh is sweltering under the most severe hot weather, and the present heatwave has touched unprecedented heights.
Dhaka city has experienced such intense heat twice in the past sixty years, while the whole country is battling unprecedented heatwaves.
Climate change is a major reason behind the unprecedented heatwave, while experts on environment believe that air pollution is also responsible for the heatwave that is going on across Bangladesh, including Dhaka.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday (April 15), Prof. Dr. Ahmad KamruzzamanMajumder, chairman of Department of Environmental Science at the Stamford University said that there are some reasons behind the unprecedented heat wave that is going on in the country. Air pollution is one of the reasons.
Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS) and Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) jointly arranged the press conference titled ‘Avoiding Double-Standard Policy to Check Air Pollution,’ at the National Press Club.
Majumder, who is also founder chairman of CAPS, presented a keynote speech over the ongoing air pollution situation in the country and related laws, rules and policies.
Prof. Mohammad Ali Naqi, vice president at Institute of Architecture and former vice-chancellor of Stamford University, chaired the event. Moderated by CAPS researcher Eng. Md. Nashir Ahmed Patwari, the press conference was attended by Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh PoribeshAndolon (BAPA); Advocate MonjilMorshed, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), Dr. Adil Mohammad Khan, a professor at JU’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning and executive director of Institute for Planning and Development (IPD) and Md. Jahangir Alam, coordinator of BARCIK.
In his keynote speech, Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has realized the health risks of air pollution and lowered the standard for PM2.5 from 10 micrograms per cubic meter to 5 micrograms per cubic meter. But as per the ‘Air Pollution (Control) Rules, 2022’, the standard value of PM2.5 has been increased from 15 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms.
He also said that following an application of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the Ministry of Industry agreed to import diesel with sulfur content of 500 ppm or more in a meeting held on January 12, 2023 to reduce import costs, although according to Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI) data, diesel contains Sulfur limit was set up to 350 ppm.
According to the new rules prepared by the Department of Environment (DoE) in 2023, coal and oil-based thermal power plants (up to 50 MW) and gas-based thermal power plants (up to 100 MW) are orange class industrial establishments. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required for all these industries. But all power plants were placed under red category as per 1997 law, which means a legal requirement for all power producers to prepare Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for these industries.
Additionally, there was a mandatory Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for orange category industrial establishments but it is absent in the 2023 Rules. As a result, orange class power plants are likely to be exempted from pollution management obligations in their operations.
He placed some recommendations in this regard. The recommendations include maintain of at least the previous standard of 15 micrograms per meter in order to reduce the serious effects of future air pollution, any amendments to air quality standards or stack emission standards by industrial establishments should be compared with the WHO standards and neighboring countries and should be consistent with the standards of their own countries in which development aid countries, organizations or consulting firms work in our country, environment must be given importance before determining power plant standards, and implementation of DoE Road Map to set maximum limit of 50 ppm sulfur content in diesel.
