To prevent air pollution
On February 4, 2021 the High Court Division of the Supreme Court issued two new directives in response to a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). In the new two directives, the Court ordered the Directorate General of Fire Service and Civil Defence to take required steps to spray the roads with water alongside its regular responsibilities. It also ordered Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation to spray the roads as well as the plants on the central reservations and directed Dhaka WASA to supply sufficient water to the city corporations for this purpose.
Pursuant to its responsibilities under Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995, the Department of Environment is entrusted to oversee the air quality. Standards for air quality and pollution have been set out in the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Rules 1997. Other laws are also aimed at preventing air pollution – these include the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995, the Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kilns Establishment (Control) Act 2013. Some sections of the Road Transport Act 2018 also regulate the emission of harmful gases from motor vehicles. However, air quality of Dhaka city has been worsening, particularly in light of the reopening of institutions subsequent to the COVID-19 lockdown.
During the hearing of the same petition, the Court previously noted that the air pollution level in Dhaka was very alarming. Right to healthy and sustainable environment has been recognised as a facet of right to life protected under Article 31 of the Constitution in notable Supreme Court cases, the most significant one being Mohiuddin Farooque v Bangladesh. The judiciary has subsequently recognised this right in multiple cases. However, despite notable judicial activism on the matter, matters of environment pollution continue to be a threat to healthy lives of the citizen. It is interesting to note that an appeals court in France recently recognised a sick Bangladeshi individual as an 'environmentally displaced' person noting the level of air pollution in Dhaka.
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