Contain air pollution as it harms children, elderly people seriously

Air pollution poses both short-term and long-term health risks to children and elderly people. Air pollution causes a number of health concerns, including lung cancer, damage to the bones, liver, and kidneys, heart troubles, and respiratory ailments. A study stated that approximately 82,000 people in Bangladesh die each year as a result of air pollution, the majority of which are children and elderly.
A World Bank study reveals that around 14 per cent of the population in pollution-prone areas of the country is affected by mental depression. There has been a significant increase in air pollution-related deaths in recent years. Reports indicate that in 2019, the number of deaths reached 173,500, which is an increase by 50,000 compared to 2017.

Environmentalists said due to unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation, air pollution in industrial areas has become a significant concern. They stressed the need for strict monitoring by law enforcement agencies to compel authorities to operate their Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs). The absence of a master plan has resulted in the mixing of commercial areas, industrial factories, and residential areas in Gazipur, which contributes to air pollution.

Bangladesh and a few other South Asian countries have adopted policies to help improve air quality. But, along with taking action at the district and country level, it is also urgent that coordinated transboundary actions are taken with the neighbouring countries. To achieve greater progress, the focus of policymakers should expand into other sectors, particularly small manufacturing, agriculture, residential cooking, and waste management.

The government has so far pronounced thousands of commitments to curb air pollution in the last one-and-a-half decade-long regime. However, air quality deteriorated and nobody is here to take responsibility for environmental pollution. Environmentalists keep their pressure on the government, and the government indirectly by remaining silent in case of their people’s offense and directly taking several risky projects, thankfully contributing to air pollution becoming worse.