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2 years ago

Meeting challenges of the worst air pollution

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Once again, Bangladesh has earned the dubious distinction of topping the list of countries in the world with the worst air quality. To make the matter particularly shocking and painful, the country has held the undesirable spot for the fourth year running. Now how bad is the situation? According to the IQAIR, a Swiss air-quality technology company, particulate matters or airborne particles, codenamed PM2.5 in the report, were 15 times (at 76.9 micrograms) the limit set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at 5.0 micrograms per cubic metre of air.  

Specialising in protection against air pollutants and developing monitoring of air quality, the IQAIR published the 2021 World Air Quality Report on Tuesday. This is particularly concerning because the early months of the year under study were marked with lockdowns and limited movement of people. Even a drive against brick kilns was launched, although in the absence of post-drive monitoring many of those kilns came into operation afresh. Yet, overall, the pollution ought to have been less than what would be in case of normal life going full steam.  

Dhaka ranks second among the world's capitals in terms of air pollution after New Delhi. But this is small consolation. Other international organisations involved with air quality study and monitoring have often found Dhaka beating the Indian capital and other close contenders in the worst category. Central and South Asia have hardly any reputation for maintaining tolerably healthy environment where air pollution has a minor role.  

Now an analysis of the pollutant-laden air of the country reveals something particularly disturbing. For example, if capital Dhaka comes next to another neighbouring country's capital and that country ranks fifth on the list of the worst polluted countries, the average air quality in that country is much better than that of Bangladesh. Seen from the domestic perspective too, the development here is most worrying. The country is at the top of the list but the capital is second on the list. It means, even the air quality of countryside of Bangladesh is not as clean as it should be.  

Here two facts of life demand considerations: New Delhi's air quality deteriorates particularly with the burning of crop stalks in agricultural farms in Haryana and Punjab, which creates heavy smog. Also, there is a common practice in India to use coal as fuel for cooking on top of its use in factories and industries. Bangladesh has negligible use of coal.  

Then what went wrong and where? One of the worst pollutants in Bangladesh is brick kiln. Although concrete blocks, a cheaper and far better alternative to brick, were invented more than a decade ago, the policymakers and the authorities concerned did not go for vigorous promotion of this building material earlier. Happily, laws are now being framed and steps finalised for phasing out the use of bricks for construction of houses or buildings. 

Another major pollutant is the ramshackle automobiles. Although the brand new vehicles also pollute, those running beyond their permissible active life cause the greatest damage by belching out hazardous fumes. Water vessels ---not just ships, launches and trawlers but even country boats now use pump engines which produce obnoxious smokes. No wonder vehicles and vessels contribute to about 50 per cent of the black carbon. 

Experts hold the view that incomplete burning of fossil fuel and biomass such as wood, dry leaves and dry cow dung, bamboo etcetera produces black carbon which ultimately turns into particulate matter (PM 2.5). In a small geographic area, here lives an oversize population. Its environmental health is bound to be critical with human activities. Green technology is yet to be affordable but if there is a will there is a way. The fact that this country holds the enviable records of the world's most widely used home solar systems shows the way.  

If the brick kilns can be eliminated by making concrete blocks available instead of bricks within the shortest possible time, say a couple of years, environmental pollution will come down significantly. The next drive must be launched against old and fume-spewing vehicles. At the same time if the manufacture of electric vehicles can be speeded up in order to phase out oil-guzzling cars in particular, environmental pollution will drop to an acceptable level soon.  

How people are falling victim to the particulate matters makes particularly disquieting reading. So long, common flu, pneumonia, asthma and a few such milder forms of communicable diseases were believed to be caused by air pollution. Now experts in public health and researchers of environmental pollution confirm that inhaling the particulate matters present in air causes cancer, laceration of lung tissue and damage to heart in the form of various cardiac complications. One explanation for the increased heart diseases and cancer perhaps lies in the worst pollution Bangladesh is encountering.  

With its energy crunch, it is not easy for the country to shift to green technology overnight. Particularly challenging will be the reduction of dependence on biomass which is burnt primarily for cooking and other purposes in villages. Village-based biogas plants covering one village or clusters of villages may be an answer to the problem. If short- and long-term plans are taken to gradually make transition to green technology, Bangladesh can still save the day for itself.                      

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