The government is considering introduction of “emission tax” on the old and outdated vehicles, which emit more carbon and release harmful particles to air.
A high-level committee of the government, formed to prepare a policy on the control of air pollution, at its meeting decided to incorporate a provision into the policy allowing “emission tax” on the old and outdated vehicles.
The meeting was held at the conference room of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry here on the draft air pollution control policy, a ministry press release said on Monday.
Chaired by Environment, Forest and Climate Change secretary Ziaul Hasan, the meeting was attended, among others, by additional secretaries of the ministry Mahmud Hasan (environment) and Mizanul Haque Chowdhury (climate change), chief executive officer of Dhaka South City Corporation Shah Md Emdadul Haque and director general of the Department of Environment (DoE) Dr AKM Rafique Ahammed.
The meeting decided to add a provision into the policy to conduct mobile courts against polluters, including brick kilns and vehicles, which emit smokes and cause harm to environment. It also decided to include the issue of block use, instead of bricks, in the government tender schedule aiming to reduce the number of brick kilns, a key contributor to air pollution.
Ziaul Hasan said it is quite impossible for a single agency to prevent air pollution and that is why coordination of all ministries, departments and agencies concerned, and people’s active participation are required to do so.
