Waste management is a top priority for the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) as it continues to pursue sustainable growth in the highly populated city of Dhaka.The effects of economic expansion and urbanisation inevitably result in more trash.In order to preserve our environmentally friendly surroundings, the project’s stakeholders must be included.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which Bangladesh signed in 2015 as a UN member, includes a Target 11.6 that states, “By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.”
To keep this enterprise going, the government and municipal authorities have adopted a few laws and regulations, although they are hardly explicit.The community’s lack of awareness, few resources, and staff shortages have made it challenging to guarantee high-quality trash management.
Any solid, liquid, or gaseous material that might negatively alter the environment is referred to as waste.
Three types of trash are designated as targets in the DCC’s New Clean Dhaka Master Plan 2018-2032: solid, business, and medical waste.
The Buriganga River is home to more than 249 tanneries, the majority of which lack effluent treatment plants (ETP) because of their strict profit-driven operations.
According to Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), every day, 6000 tons of liquid trash are dumped into the Buriganga.
Nonetheless, the textile sector remains the primary driver of our export market.
The textile industry created 217 million cubic meters of wastewater in 2016 and is expected to produce 349 million cubic meters in 2021, according to a report released by DoE in 2016.
Statista reports that the sector made 28.09 billion USD in 2016. Furthermore, a research found that other raw material-based enterprises, including those that produce plastic, fertilizer, dyes, medicines, and cold storage facilities, release 3,500 cubic meters of liquid waste into the Buriganga River each day.
In Bangladesh, there are around 6000 recognized and many unregistered brick fields.
In Dhaka city, there are over 500 clinics and hospitals, and each one generates a sizable quantity of garbage every day.
As per, Article 18A of the Bangladeshi Constitution mandates the preservation and enhancement of the environment and biodiversity, which is tangentially related to waste management.The “protection of right to life and personal liberty” is stated in Article 32 of the Bangladeshi Constitution.
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh defined the “right to life” in the Constitution as a basic right that includes the right to live in a healthy environment in two rulings (Ain O Salish Kendra versus Bangladesh, 1999 BLD 488 and Prof. Nurul Islam V State, 2000, 52 DLR 413).
The UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as The Environment Policy, 1992, was the impetus behind the establishment of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Environment and Forests and Department of Environment (DOE) in 1989.
The primary legislative framework in Bangladesh for controlling environmental situations is the Environmental Conservation Act, 1995. The Environmental Conservation Rules of 1997 distinguished between four categories of industries and projects under the Environmental Conservation Act of 1995.
Finally, issues including health hazards, urban livability, environmental and climatic change, and economic considerations should all be taken into consideration while managing garbage.