[🇧🇩] Save the Rivers/Forests/Hills-----Save the Environment

[Saif]

Bangladesh significant contributor to economic loss due to inadequate e-waste mgmt: ITU

The global loss due to inadequate e-waste management practices amounts to $37 billion annually, with Bangladesh being a significant contributor, according to a study conducted by the International Telecommunication Union...

www.newagebd.net

Bangladesh significant contributor to economic loss due to inadequate e-waste mgmt: ITU
Taufiq Hossain Mobin 03 July, 2024, 22:46

Old and worn-out electronic devices are seen at a shop in the capital Dhaka recently. The global loss due to inadequate e-waste management practices amounts to $37 billion annually, with Bangladesh being a significant contributor, according to a study conducted by the International Telecommunication Union. | New Age photo

The global loss due to inadequate e-waste management practices amounts to $37 billion annually, with Bangladesh being a significant contributor, according to a study conducted by the International Telecommunication Union.

The report 'The Global E-WASTE Monitor 2024' published by the ITU, a specialised agency of the United Nations, Bangladesh is one of the largest e-waste generators in the South Asian region and the country generated 367 million kilograms of e-waste in 2022 at a rate of 2.2 kilograms per capita.

The report defined e-waste as the waste stream that contains both hazardous and valuable materials generated from disposed electrical and electronic equipment.

The UN agency published statistics of e-waste generation in 193 countries based on the data for the year 2022, showing that a record 62 billion kilograms of e-waste were generated globally in 2022, averaging 7.8 kilograms per person a year.

The report explained that despite gaining $28 billion from metal recovery and $23 billion from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the costs of e-waste treatment and associated health and environmental impacts remain high.

With $10 billion spent on treatment and $78 billion in externalised costs, the net result is a staggering $37 billion annual loss in global e-waste management, it said.

The externalised costs amount to an estimated $36 billion in long-term socioeconomic and environmental costs, $22 billion representing the cost of illnesses and decreases in human capital, and the average monetised value of working lives caused by mercury emissions, $19 billion arising from the release of plastic waste into the environment, less than $1 billion arising from the release of lead into the environment and its effects on wildlife and humans.

Experts said that Bangladesh was incurring loss in this sector due to lack of a formal mechanism in e-waste management, and said e-waste management could be an industry if the government had set up proper process.

Hridoy Roy, a lecturer of the chemical engineering department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, told New Age that assessing the economic impact of e-waste management in Bangladesh would be hard for various reasons.

'One of the main reasons is currently there is no formal mechanism for collecting and recycling e-waste in the country. Policies regarding this need to be introduced accordingly,' he said.

The ITU report stated that Bangladesh had only a few licensed e-waste dismantlers, which used basic resource recovery practices that were polluting and unsafe.

In the Southern Asian region, India, Iran, Thailand and Pakistan were above Bangladesh in generating e-waste, amounting to 4,137 million kilograms, 817 million kilograms, 753 million kilograms and 559 million kilograms of e-waste respectively in 2022.

Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan and the Maldives stayed below Bangladesh.

Of these countries, the first three generated 175 million kilograms, 42 million kilograms, 32 million kilograms respectively and the remaining two five million kilograms each.

While not highlighting on the formal and informal e-waste management in Bangladesh, the report said that only 22.3 per cent of this e-waste was documented as formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner in the global scenario.

The report said that e-waste had a direct and severe impact on the environment and people's health.

E-waste contains toxic and persistent substances, such as the flame retardants that are used in appliances and in EEE containing plastics.

It also said that several international studies of the emissions caused by open burning of various materials, including hazardous materials, highlighted the health risks of inhaling the heavy metals and brominated flame retardants contained in plastic e-waste.

Mentioning unmanaged recycling of temperature exchange equipment, such as refrigerants as another major, but often overlooked concern, the report stated that it contributed to climate change and depletion of the ozone layer.

The report observed that the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change of Bangladesh issued the e-waste Management Rules in 2021, after nearly 10 years of talks.

The rules introduce the extended producer responsibility framework for e-waste management, requiring producers of almost all EEE to register with the Department of Environment, have an approved e-waste management plan and reach collection targets of 10 per cent in 2022, increasing annually by 10 percentage points to 50 per cent by 2026.

The report said that the government of Bangladesh had been unable to implement the rules despite the progress made.​

M Shahidul Islam, chairman of the department of geography and environment at the University of Dhaka, told New Age that consumption of electrical and electronics enhanced in Bangladesh, so disposing these goods had become a matter of concern, as it was a densely populated country.

'Bangladesh has two main resources, water and soil. Either disposed EEE, or e-waste goes to water, or mixes in soil. Water and soil get polluted by the heavy metals of e-waste, such as lead,' he said.

'Specific policy and its implementation are needed for e-waste management. But e-waste management in Bangladesh is currently treated as a casual issue without much seriousness,' he added.

 

[Saif]

Heroes and villains of the climate crisis

The “climatic” factor brings us back to the question of climate justice.

www.thedailystar.net

Heroes and villains of the climate crisis

Visual: Shutterstock

In Alexander Ward's book The Internationalists, there is an account of a debate between the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on how the United States should address the issue of China in climate negotiations. Kerry argues that America and China must cooperate. Sullivan disagrees—they should focus on "boxing China out" and make deals with other countries. Sullivan argues that they should instead present China as the main climate villain, and force them to the negotiating table on US' terms.

Economist Raghuram Rajan recently wrote an article for the Financial Times in the aftermath of the Indian elections, arguing that the Modi administration's focus on expanding manufacturing is misguided: "The world does not have political or climatic room for another China-sized economy exporting manufactured goods." Notably, the lack of room is both "political" and "climatic". The unspoken "political" factor here is the recent American anxiety around Chinese overcapacity—G7 economies are worried about losing advanced manufacturing capacity to competitors in all emerging markets (not just China).

The "climatic" factor brings us back to the question of climate justice.

Who is the real "climate villain?"

Historical emissions and global inequality
How can one measure climate villainy? If we were to take annual carbon emissions, then the primary villain is very clear—it is the People's Republic of China, followed by the United States of America. If we measure "climate villainy" on this scale then one can even present the US as a relative "climate hero"—it's an example of a large, high-population economy that can sustain a higher quality of life than China while producing fewer emissions. Thanks to the radical green agenda in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (glowingly endorsed by progressives) and the visionary entrepreneurialism of Elon Musk, it will be the US that saves the world from the climate crisis, just as it saves the world from every crisis.

This is the story US progressives would like to tell—of the climate hero America saving the world from the climate villain China.

The problem with looking only at annual carbon emissions is that carbon has accumulated over time. The climate crisis is not caused by present-day emissions, it is caused by the sum total of historical emissions. Once we account for the issue of historical emissions, we confront the heart of the matter: the benefits of historical carbon consumption are restricted to a small handful of advanced economies, former Warsaw Pact countries and Gulf Arab petrostates, but the costs have to be borne by us all.

Consider the figure below, taken from a Nature Sustainability paper by climate scientist Jason Hickel:

Cumulative CO2 emissions with respect to 1.5 degrees Celsius fair shares versus cumulative GDP per capita, 1960-2018. Source: Jason Hickel
The y-axis shows the cumulative GDP per capita from 1960-2018. The x-axis measures how much each country has overshot or undershot the global carbon budget needed to restrict warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, relative to a hypothetical world where historical carbon consumption was divided equally according to population—a value of 1 represents a country that has consumed exactly its fair share of global carbon.

A striking pattern emerges almost immediately—almost 70 percent of cross-national differences in cumulative per capita GDP can be explained solely by differences in cumulative emissions over time. Thus, it is impossible to disentangle the issue of global inequality from historical carbon emissions. With the exception of primarily the Gulf petrostates, the entirety of the Global South is in the bottom left of the chart, coloured in green. The figure ends in 2018, rapid economic development in the intervening period has since caused China to slightly overshoot its fair share. But the main climate villain when we take historical emissions into account is very clear—it is the US.

Liability vs generosity

The solution to the problem of historical emissions is quite straightforward—Global North (red in the graph) countries owe liability payments to Global South (green) countries for exceeding their fair shares of the atmospheric commons. This would enable emissions reductions while still allowing for "catch-up" growth in the Global South, and help solve long-standing issues of global inequality. COP would be the ideal venue to negotiate these payments.

However, the topic of liability payments at COP is consistently blocked by the Western negotiating bloc, particularly the US. The concept of Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) was enshrined into international climate law in the Paris Agreement to acknowledge the issue of historical emissions but is under attack every year from Western nations. CBDR acknowledges that while all countries must act on climate change, the nature of our responsibilities is different and corresponds to our historic emissions. This framework is essential to protecting every sovereign nation's inherent human right to development. It is also essential to preserve as we pursue climate justice. Jake Sullivan's strategy for climate negotiations with China suggests that senior American policymakers have abandoned it completely, choosing instead to use climate politics to suppress economic development in Global South competitors.

Let us return to Raghuram Rajan's prescriptions for the Indian economy. "Climatic" factors are only a barrier to industrial development in India if we take the US position that only present-day emissions matter in determining climate responsibility. A historical emissions framework gives countries in the Global South room to grow and to reach some kind of parity in economic prosperity with the advanced economies. Liability payments offer a mechanism to achieve that parity.

By now I hope the readers can fully comprehend the dark motivations behind the consistent blocking of liability payments at COP. We should recognise this for what it is—an attempt by the Global North to use the climate crisis to lock in current patterns of global inequality and maintain their position of privilege in the commanding heights of the world economy. In the context of China, it was even to be used as a way to neutralise an economic competitor.

We speak of Bangladesh in terms of "climate vulnerability". This is how the Global North would like to see us, as "vulnerable" people who exist only to be saved by their generosity and benevolence. This is the language of NGOs and aid dependency. This language also directs us away from the issue of liability payments that we are owed by the Global North. The climate crisis was not caused by Bangladesh, but the lives it claims will be disproportionately from Bangladesh. When you are not owed liability, you can only be grateful for generosity. We need to break out of this paradigm.

Look again at the figure given.Don't look at it through the lens of personal self-sacrifice and bleeding-heart activism. Don't look at it through the eyes of NGOs. Look at it through the lens of your material self-interest. The emergence of China as a peer competitor to the United States creates the scope for the formation of a counter-hegemonic Global South bloc that can exercise coercion on Global North countries to demand liability payments and an acceptance of the historical emissions framework. In the present moment, this is the clearest path forward to climate justice.

Zain Omar Ali is a PhD student in genetics at Lund University. Bareesh Hasan Chowdhury works on environment and climate and is interested in the sustainable energy transition.​

 

[Saif]

Adapt or die: Bangladesh joins the race to climate-proof cities

Discover how Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, is tackling climate change with its first climate action plan. Learn about the city's strategies to become carbon-neutral by 2050, including renewable energy, electric vehicles, and green spaces.

en.prothomalo.com

Adapt or die: Bangladesh joins the race to climate-proof cities
Dhaka launches climate action plan to future-proof city

Lack of financial resources is a challenge

Across Asia, city authorities face up to climate hazards

Thomson Reuters FoundationDhaka
Published: 03 Jul 2024, 09: 57

Dhaka cityFile photo

Lashed by torrential rains and scorched by brutal heatwaves, Dhaka's workers - from rickshaw drivers to those working in clothes factories - are exposed more than most to the reality of the climate emergency.

Bangladesh's capital, one of the world's most congested and polluted mega-cities, is home to around 10 million people, including thousands who have fled floods and droughts in other parts of a country that is on the frontline of climate change.

Managing these huge numbers while also climate-proofing the riverside city is a huge challenge but it is an urgent one that city authorities are hoping to address with their first climate action plan, which was launched in May.

"Transforming Dhaka was critical towards making Bangladesh green and climate-resilient," said Environment Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury at the launch.

The plan will serve as a roadmap to enable the city to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and includes strategies to help it cope with ever more frequent floods and heatwaves.

It includes proposals to switch to renewable energy sources, introduce electric vehicles, increase green spaces, restore natural drainage systems, establish early flood warning systems and ensure a secure water supply by 2030.

Dhaka is just the latest city in the region to seek to face the climate challenge head-on.

Asia was the world's most disaster-hit region from climate hazards in 2023, including floods, storms and heatwaves, and the region is also warming faster than other areas, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

With around 704 million people living in urban areas in South Asia, the race is on to equip cities for a hotter, more dangerous future.

First of all, cities must set baselines for greenhouse gas emissions and risks so that they can measure progress over time, said Shruti Narayan, managing director at the C40 Cities network, a global network of cities working on climate action.

"Data-driven targets and monitoring is critical to turning the plans into reality," Narayan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The C40 platform helps cities align their climate plans with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).


More than 60 cities have announced such plans under the platform so far, including some of Asia's biggest urban areas.

The Indian cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru have already adopted climate plans and Karachi in Pakistan is drawing up its own blueprint.

The stakes are high: the Asian Development Bank says that unless planet-heating emissions are cut, the collective economy of six countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka - could shrink by up to 1.8 per cent every year by 2050 and 8.8 per cent by 2100, on average.

Already, the livelihoods of more than 200 million people in these countries are threatened by the rapid loss of snow cover in the Himalayas and rising sea levels, according to the ADB.

Financing Green Ambitions

Cities consume two-thirds of the world's energy and house 50 per cent of the global population. More than 10,000 cities have committed to cutting emissions and adapting to climate hazards.

As part of its climate plan, Dhaka's twin municipalities - north and south - established emissions inventories for 2021-22 by identifying most polluting sectors and then set a target of cutting 70 per cent of emissions by 2050.

One challenge is financing the required changes; cities in the Global South have long complained about richer countries not paying their fair share to cover the costs of climate change.

This year's COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan is expected to focus on setting a goal for the levels of climate finance that will be needed from 2025 onwards to help poorer nations curb emissions, adapt to worsening extreme weather and higher seas, and respond to unavoidable climate "loss and damage".

In the meantime, some cities in the Global South have invested in innovative digital tools, like digital twins, to build climate resilience, while others scramble for resources.

Mumbai - the richest municipality in India with an annual budget of nearly 600 billion Indian rupees ($7.2 billion) in 2024-25 - was able to allocate around 100 billion Indian rupees ($1.2 billion) for various climate actions like expanding tree cover, reviving urban parks, and managing floods.

Mumbai's climate allocation dwarfs the entire budget of northern Dhaka - 53 billion taka ($450.3 million) in 2023-24 - which means the resource-strapped city must prioritise cheaper actions, said Md Sirajul Islam, chief town planner of Dhaka South City Corporation.

Jaya Dhindaw, head of the South Asian chapter of the World Resources Institute (WRI) that developed the climate plans for several Indian cities, said realistic, achievable actions help set the pace for progress.

For example, in early June, Bengaluru's deputy chief minister announced extended opening hours for urban parks to provide shade for the city's people.

"With low-hanging actions like these, you can drive cities' confidence that climate actions are doable projects," Dhindaw said.

However, Dhaka will need funding to raise the share of renewable power to 85 per cent, treat a massive amount of organic waste to stem methane emissions, and ensure that 95 per cent of vehicles are electric.

The city might need to call on global donors, said Jubaer Rashid, the Bangladesh country representative of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, a global network of local and national governments.

"We will work closely with city officials to help them develop proposals for fundraising," said Rashid, who worked with Dhaka's municipalities on their climate plans.

Cities Reimagined

Urban planners and environmental activists said that another priority must be pushing back against the poor planning that has exacerbated problems caused by the changing climate.

For example, in the northern part of Dhaka, green cover has shrunk by 66 per cent in last three decades alone with canals and fields destroyed to make space for densely populated residential zones.

The city's rapid, unplanned growth has choked rivers like the Buriganga and blocked drains causing worse flooding, said urban planner Mehedi Ahsan, who represents the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Bangladesh.

The climate action plan aims to restore the canals and expand green spaces to cover 25 per cent of the city by 2050.

But with up to 2,000 people arriving in northern Dhaka every day, including many fleeing floods and droughts in other parts of the country, time is not on the authorities' side.

"The place we got ourselves into is not created by the climate crisis alone but the city climate plan provides us a hitch to shift away from a predatory pattern of building cities to protecting our ecology as we imagine a different future," said Ahsan.

($1 = 117.0000 taka)​

 

[Saif]

‘Climate change to affect aquaculture’

Climate change will affect aquaculture production in Asia, which accounts for almost 90 percent of global aquaculture production.

www.thedailystar.net

'Climate change to affect aquaculture'

Climate change will affect aquaculture production in Asia, which accounts for almost 90 percent of global aquaculture production.

Consequently, aquaculture in Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, is also expected to suffer, said Cherdsak Virapat, director general of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (Cirdap).

"Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam have been identified as the most vulnerable countries worldwide," he said.

The Cirdap and the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) organised the seminar, styled 'Promoting Climate Resilient Aquaculture and Fisheries for Integrated Rural Development in Bangladesh', at the Cirdap Auditorium in the capital yesterday.

During his presentation, Virapat said: "The impacts of climate change are serious and must be addressed now because the longer we fail to take action, the bigger the cost to remediate the impacts."

Preemptive mitigation of climate change should be a key consideration for the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector, he added.

Speaking about overcoming these challenges, Virapat said four strategic actions need to be established.

The first is increasing climate resilience of farmers, farming systems, and breeds available for farming.

The second is to increase the capacity to manage short- and long-term climate risks and reduce losses from weather-related disasters.

The third action should be improving sustainability of genetic diversity in brood stocks as a resource for long-term and continuous adaptation to climate change.

And finally, the third initiative should be finding potential and developing the capacity of aquaculture in mitigating the impact of and/or sequestrating the release of greenhouse gas emissions.

He also pointed out a way forward, seeking to define adaptation strategies for the main environmental, disease and genetic threats caused by climate change in order to inform and guide aquaculture community.

Virapat also underlined the need for improved water storage capacity and effective water utilisation for agriculture, industry and households and reduced fishing pressure along coastal areas.​

 

[Saif]

No environmental surcharge for firms for owning more than one car

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has exempted companies and firms from paying the environmental surcharge for owning more than one car.

www.thedailystar.net

No environmental surcharge for firms for owning more than one car

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has exempted companies and firms from paying the environmental surcharge for owning more than one car.

Only individual taxpayers will be required to pay the surcharge for having second, third, or more cars, particularly sedans, jeeps and microbuses, the NBR said in a circular issued this week.

The tax administration imposed the environmental surcharge on additional vehicles for the first time in fiscal year 2023-24 to discourage their ownership and enable Bangladesh to contain air pollution and meet its commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

In the first year, the NBR imposed a surcharge on all taxpayers, including companies and firms, on ownership of more than one car. The tax authority said the surcharge would be applicable for ownership of each car in excess of one.

If the engine capacity of the second vehicle was up to 1,500cc or 75 kilowatts, the NBR collected Tk 25,000 as a surcharge.

The surcharge goes up as the engine capacity of the vehicles increases.

For example, it slapped Tk 50,000 as a surcharge on the ownership of a second car with higher engine capacity -- between 1,500cc and 2,000cc or 75 kilowatts and 100 kilowatts.

The surcharge is Tk 3.50 lakh if the engine capacity of the vehicle is 3,500cc or 175 kilowatts, according to the NBR notification.

The tax administration has kept the rate of surcharge against the engine capacity of cars unchanged for FY25 but said it would only be applicable for individual taxpayers.

A senior official of the NBR said it exempted companies and firms from payment of the surcharge since the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is yet to prepare a proper database of ownership of vehicles by companies.

Officials cannot properly track the ownership of cars by firms and companies during the renewal of registration or issuance of fitness certificates, the official said.

"They can do this for individual taxpayers. So, we have kept the surcharge payments for individual taxpayers," he said.

As per the NBR's circular, taxpayers must pay the surcharge during the renewal of fitness certificates.

The NBR also imposed conditions for the renewal of fitness certificates in the circular.

It imposes higher taxes if owners of vehicles, including those operated commercially, fail to show proof of submission of income tax returns for the current fiscal year, according to the circular.

As of June this year, Bangladesh had 61 lakh registered vehicles. Of those, the number of private passenger cars, microbuses, and jeeps stood at 6.3 lakh, according to BRTA data.

The NBR collected Tk 1,575 crore in taxes from the issuance of fitness certificates and renewal of registration in FY21, which was 48 percent higher compared to the previous year.​

 

[Saif]

Managing Sundarbans' resources sustainably

Though often touted as a protected landscape, the world's largest closed canopy mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, cannot be said to be entirely protected. In fact, the Sundarbans, is under severe ecological distress, thanks to its depredation by humans as well as the vagaries of Nature. The victims

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Managing Sundarbans' resources sustainably
FE
Published :
Jul 12, 2024 21:30
Updated :
Jul 12, 2024 21:30

File photo
Though often touted as a protected landscape, the world's largest closed canopy mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, cannot be said to be entirely protected. In fact, the Sundarbans, is under severe ecological distress, thanks to its depredation by humans as well as the vagaries of Nature. The victims are not only the Bengal Tigers, but also the birds and other animal species including the river dolphins and waterfowls surviving in its aquatic environment. To save this forestland declared a UNESCO world heritage site as well as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, Bangladesh and Germany are learnt to have reached two deals recently. The agreements so inked would reportedly ensure sustainable management of the Sundarbans and the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Swatch of No Ground (SONG). Notably, established in October 2014, the so-called 'Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area' is a reserve covering an area of 1,636 square kilometres and located 30 km away from the Dublar Char islands of the Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal. It is a habitat of some endangered species of dolphin and whale.

A collaborative effort between the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) and the ministry of fisheries and livestock (MoEFL), the endeavour, also termed SONG project, as spelt out in the agreements, aims to strengthen marine conservation in Bangladesh by way of improving collaboration and capacity building among responsible authorities and stakeholders. Understandably, the users of the Sundarbans' resources including fishermen, women and youth of the coastal communities living close to the MPA are among the stakeholders. As they are dependent on the Sundarbans for their sustenance, their participation is vital for what the project terms sustainable management of the Sundarbans and the MPA. But how can they possibly contribute effectively to the humongous task of protecting and managing the resources of the mangrove forest and the marine protected area while at the same time conserving their delicate ecosystems without the knowledge and skills required for the purpose? Here comes the question of developing their planning and surveillance capacities, skill of scientific monitoring and the ability of knowledge-based decision-making using digital tools. Once equipped with the required capacities and skills, it is expected that the coastal communities would be able to understand how they are inextricably linked to the Sundarbans and its MPA ecosystem and how they can thrive by way of proper management and conservation of the system.

As the neighbouring India does also share a portion of the Sundarbans, the strengthening of regional cooperation including financing is an imperative for sustainable management of the Sundarbans and restoration of the coastal ecosystem both in Bangladesh and India. To this end, a project styled, Sundar-BAY, is also learnt to be under implementation jointly by Bangladesh and India between March 2024 and February 2027 stressing public-private partnership between the two neighbours. As expected, this project will also focus on the conservation of the mangrove forest by providing ecosystem services to the local communities. Alongside building institutional capacity, promoting joint training programmes and providing environmental education, the SUNDAR-BAY project will also help initiate sustainable income generation activities among the local communities.

Both the projects will contribute towards meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those concerning conservation of biodiversity and natural resources. There is no denying that managing the resources of the Sundarbans including the marine protected area surrounding it sustainably is about meeting a major existential challenge for Bangladesh. A host of other projects are also working with similar objectives in the Sundarbans. What is important is that they should be in a synergy to come up with a positive outcome.​

 

[Saif]

When protector turns polluter

The Sundari canal in Chattogram’s Hathazari upazila is facing a severe environmental crisis due to indiscriminate dumping of garbage by the municipality.

www.thedailystar.net

When protector turns polluter
Hathazari municipality dumping waste in canal; landfill set up next to waterbody without permission

It's tough to notice Sundari canal amid the piles of waste dumped next to one of its banks. Hathazari municipality has set up a landfill next to it without permission and continues to dump household waste there. A portion of the canal has already been turned into a narrow drain, obstructing its waterflow. Photo: Star

The Sundari canal in Chattogram's Hathazari upazila is facing a severe environmental crisis due to indiscriminate dumping of garbage by the municipality.

As the state agency, who is the custodian of the canal, has been dumping household wastes for years, a portion of the canal has already turned into a narrow drain, obstructing the waterflow of this waterbody.

The landfill, adjacent to the canal, was established in 2013 without obtaining environmental clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE).

The canal, around 5km in length, started from Jangalchari and ended at Subedar Pukur area under the upazila.

This correspondent visited the spot on Saturday and observed that a huge amount of plastic packets of chips, biscuits and several types of single use plastic (SUP) were lying along the banks on both sides of the canal.

Sultan Ahmed, a resident of the Madhyakhil area near the landfill, said, "It is unbearable for me and my family to stay home when the bad smell spreads after the municipality dumps the garbage."

Mansur Alam, a resident of the Rangipara area, regularly cultivates crops using water from the hilly canal.

"Sometimes the canal water turns black during discharge of untreated wastewater from the landfill into the waterbody," he added.

A protected forest, around 50 acres, is located near the landfill. Due to dumping garbage next to the forestland, some trees have already died.

Anwarul Islam, forester of the Hathazari Forest Office, said he verbally urged officials of the municipality to take measures to shift the landfill.

According to the Environmental Conservation Act, filling a canal (waterbody) is a punishable offence.

Nur Hasan Sajib, an assistant director of DoE, Chattogram, who has been transferred to Noakhali recently, confirmed that the municipality is using the land as a landfill without obtaining permission from DoE.

"We asked the authorities several times to set up a waste management plant. But they don't heed to our instructions," he claimed.

Lokman Hossain, a activist and resident of the upazila, said the environmental destruction is going on in broad daylight.

Asked why the municipality is violating the law and dumping waste in open spaces and the waterbody, Biplab Muhuree, secretary of the Hathazari municipality, said they are trying to set up a waste management plant.

"We are working to buy land to establish a plant. But we are facing a shortage of funds," he claimed.

He also admitted they established the existing landfill without getting permission from the authorities concerned as they had no space to dump the collected waste.​

 

[Saif]

Canals are no one's property to destroy at will

Strict enforcement of environmental laws vital to protect them

www.thedailystar.net

Canals are no one's property to destroy at will
Strict enforcement of environmental laws vital to protect them

VISUAL: STAR

Two recent reports of The Daily Star have once again highlighted the worrying trend of canals and such waterbodies being subjected to misuse and exploitation, leading to them being filled up and obstructing their flow. We have seen the destructive effects of such practices in urban areas, including in Dhaka, which as recently as Friday got severely waterlogged as drainage canals filled with waste couldn't channel rainwater to the rivers. Abuse of canals in rural areas, where they play a crucial role by holding excess water and helping in irrigation, can have myriad other implications.

Our first report sheds light on the woeful state of a canal in Chattogram's Hathazari upazila. The local municipality has been dumping waste there for years, turning a part of it into a narrow drain. Adjacent to the canal is a landfill established without the necessary clearance from environmental authorities. This has only exacerbated the situation, with plastic waste seen littering the banks. Locals have described unbearable stench and adverse effects on their crops, but they are not the only victims. There is a 50-acre protected forest nearby that is being degraded, too.

A similar situation prevails in Kurigram's Rajarhat upazila, where a local influential has seized a portion of a canal for fish farming. Reportedly, the canal flows through 8-9 bighas of land owned by Bangladesh Railway and the Water Development Board before emptying into Teesta River. But its illegal occupation is disrupting the water flow, causing inundation of farmlands and affecting farmers.

Clearly, the degradation of canals is jeopardising not only local ecosystems but also the lives and livelihoods of people. And often, this is being done either by government bodies themselves, which is deeply alarming, or because of their negligence and inaction. The question is, why are they allowing this to happen despite knowing its devastating effects? While practical issues may sometimes create the scope for degradation of canals, like in the case of Hathazari municipality, the authorities must find a way to resolve them and ensure that no one—however powerful—can compromise these important waterbodies. The government should also ensure strict enforcement of all environmental laws and regulations.​