A pourasabha without a waste dumping site
Our Correspondent, Patuakhali
Although listed on grade one, Patuakhali pourasabha has no dumping site to dispose of waste collected from the town. Pourasabha trucks are dumping waste here and there at random, polluting the environment, townpeople said, complaining about bad odor and pollutants. Patuakhali Pourasabha was set up in 1892. Two garbage trucks of the pourasabha collect waste from different areas of the town and dispose them of on roadsides and wetlands; and even on open spaces in the town, they alleged. This correspondent recently saw a municipal truck dumping garbage near a private clinic along the Sher-e-Bangla Girls School road in the town. "We are very much offended as this is polluting environment and spreading disease in the area", Jahangir, a local resident said. When contacted, Pourasabha Conservancy Inspector Nazrul Islam said, "We dump waste in different places in the town as we have no dumping site." "Many in the town often ask us to dump waste in their wetlands and low lying areas. We dump waste there", he added. He however claimed that they never dump waste in any areas forcibly. Mostaq Ahmed, Chairman of Patuakhali Paurasabha, said, "We submitted a proposal to the local government ministry in 2003 for a three-acre permanent dumping site in Joinkathi area but this is yet to be approved."
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Waste being dumped near a clinic along the Sher-e-Bangla Girls School in Patuakhali town as the pourasabha has no dumping site. PHOTO: STAR |
