City dwellers deserve a better waste management system

Life in the capital city continues to remain difficult because of its poor waste management system. The government as well as Dhaka city authorities claim that the place has grown as a modern city, and huge public funds are annually allocated for it.

But the authorities have conspicuously failed to ensure a cleaner environment for the dwellers.

Apart from some few special zones and posh areas where a richer section of people live, wastes are found littered on footpaths, roads, divider islands, canals, and even beneath flyovers. Clearly, these wastes that spread foul smell pose threats to public health and the environment. In this rainy season, a little rain causes the wastes to spread on more places making the city dirtier.

It has been found that people with little civic responsibilities continue to throw waste indiscriminately in open spaces and water bodies. In this, reportedly, they follow the city authorities that are involved in the same practice in many areas.

According to a report yesterday, even in posh city areas like Gulshan, Banani and Dhanmondi, primary waste collection centres have not yet been installed while the secondary transfer stations on roadsides and road dividers cause pollution and health hazards for the public as randomly thrown wastes spill over.

At places like Dayaganj crossing in the capital, wastes are reportedly managed on the main road by DSCC. On the 60-foot road at Mirpur which falls under DNCC, the piled up wastes narrowed down the roads and created traffic congestion.

People cannot stand on these places and businesses there are incurring loss as shops fail to draw customers due to the piled up wastes on the road.

Still, if waste remains littered on roads and other places due to the negligence of the waste-collecting rickshaw van drivers as explained by the city authorities, the question is: why don’t the two corporations hold them responsible?
As there are only 62 secondary transfer stations in the total of 75 wards of DSCC, it is inevitable that waste management in the wards, where there is no such station, will not be done adequately and the public will suffer.

The DNCC also does not have secondary stations in all its 54 wards.

It is not acceptable that as there is no space available, city corporations authorities could not build secondary waste stations in the wards where there is no such station.