Road dust posing severe health threat
Road dust has become the biggest source of pollution in the capital, especially during the dry season, for various unplanned construction works, posing a severe health threat to city dwellers, say experts.
According to them, the air pollution originating from processes of construction like concrete crushing, cement batching and roadstone plants, is destroying the environment, depriving the city dwellers of fresh air.
Many mega development projects like the Malibagh-Moghbazar flyover project and metro rail project, road repair works and construction works are going on in the city generating a huge amount of dust every day.
Jahangir Kabir, who works in a private firm in Shantinagar, said he has to go to different offices on official purposes every day and gets exposed to dust when he travels in areas adjoining Malibagh and Moghbazar.
“I have to go through the dust-prone areas to save time in this chaotic city,” he told the news agency.
Moshiur Rahman, a High Court employee, said he was exposed to dust every day as he goes to his office by rickshaw and frequently suffers from allergy. “I use a mask to avoid the dust but that is not enough,” he said.
Like Kabir and Rahman, thousands of city dwellers are exposed to dust pollution as the authorities concerned have taken no measure to check it as the focus is always on vehicular pollution.
Dr Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, a former national consultant of World Health Organisation, said the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma have increased in the city due to growing dust pollution.
“As concentration of dust particles in the air is on the rise day by day, most city dwellers are suffering from common cold and cough problems,” he said.
Dr Mahfuz, grants manager of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said people were being exposed to dust when they go to office or works. “So, they can not concentrate on their works.”
As dust generates wax in human ears, he said, patients of ear infections was also increasing in the city.
He said airborne dust from construction sites was a problem for a number of reasons as it creates health hazards, particularly for those suffering from respiratory problems, and causes environmental degradation, including air and water pollution.
Citing a World Health Organization study, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon General Secretary Abdul Matin said the capital was one of the cities in the world with the most air pollution in 2012. He observed that air pollution has increased in recent days.
Dhaka city is a storehouse of air pollution where there is no guideline to check it, he said, adding that dust has been contributing to the rapid rise of lung diseases and allergy among city dwellers.
Former Asian Development Bank consultant and urban planner Khondker Neaz Rahman said dust containing fly ash, which comes from construction sites, was very harmful for human health. He suggested construction firms working in the capital to take necessary measures to minimise generation of dust. Although airborne dust has been emerging as a severe threat to the city dwellers, the Department of Environment (DoE) is yet to announce any guideline to check it, he said.
DoE Director General M Raisul Alam Mondal said the DoE does not have any guideline to check dust but it has been working sincerely to minimise air pollution in the country.