About 2.70 lakh children suffer from eye fatigue yearly in Dhaka

Staff Reporter :
Around 2.70 lakh children suffer from eye fatigue and severe headaches each year in Dhaka mostly caused by visual pollution, according to a study.
The study, carried out by Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO) in 2022, was revealed at the ESDO’s head office in the city on Sunday.
The study found that visual pollution causes more than 24 per cent of people to suffer from eye fatigue among which children are the worst sufferers, while nearly 17 per cent city dwellers are suffering from mental illness.
“Around 2.70 lakh children in Dhaka city receive treatment for suffering from eye strain and severe headaches,
based on data compiled from 27 hospitals and clinics in the city of Dhaka,” the study read.
It also showed that the death rate due to road accidents increased by 40 per cent to 8,800 in mid-2022 from 5,227, in mid 2019.
Visual pollution has been identified as one of the top causes of road accidents, ranking alongside overtaking, reckless driving and intoxicated driving. The worst-case scenario is that 95.89 per cent of people aren’t even aware that visual pollution has been affecting their lives seriously for a very long time, the study said.
Billboards, cables, wires, decaying structures, stacked-high construction materials, graffiti, etc. are just a few examples of the various irregular forms that are referred to as “visual pollution” and prevent people from fully appreciating a perspective or view.
Visual pollution describes the apparent deterioration and low aesthetic quality of natural and man-made landscapes close to people.
As the visual pollution disturbs both natural and man-made habitats, it interferes with a place’s ability to be useful and enjoyable while also limiting the ability of the wider ecological system, which includes both humans and animals, to grow and flourish there.
Urging the government to act to protect public health and the environment from visual pollution, former Secretary and ESDO President Syed Marghub Murshed said the issue of visual pollution must be tackled in series.
We must raise awareness of visual pollution and educate enforcement agencies in order to reduce the risk of pollution, he added.
ESDO Secretary General Dr Shahriar Hossain said that the visual pollution–billboards, cable wire and power poles, haze, excessive traffic signs, garbage or rubbish dumps, urban graffiti, light/ neon sign pollution generated by excess lights, and digital billboards.Visual pollution such as plastic bags and trash– has worsened the present scenario which has been caused by the general public’s ignorance of environmental issues.
ESDO Senior Program Associate Maliha Hoque, Senior Technical Advisor Prof Dr Md Abul Hashem and State University Professor Dr Hasnat M Alamgir, among others, were presented at the event.