The bell tolls

Dhaka, once the hub of dream and optimism, is becoming a nightmarish city. People here, before long, will feel like being driven away by the accelerating deterioration in the quality of life caused by clogged roads, eye-stinging smog, polluted streets, parks, and lakes, unaffordable housing, overcrowded schools, colleges and hospitals and polluting industries. The very qualities that lured millions to Dhaka 30 years ago are threatening to disappear. In this winter season, auto exhausts and chemicals hang lower and longer than before, affecting human health.
All indications are there that an environmental catastrophe looms over the country, and the ministries concerned and law enforcers must take urgent and effective action. Citizens are yet to be aware of the dangers that threaten their lives. Slowly and unconsciously, day in and day out, city dwellers are inhaling noxious poisons that are spewed out by the caravans of cars.
Despite the fact that regulations exist, indifference, inaction and failure in taking punitive measures against the offending drivers as well as vehicle owners has led to such a perilous situation. In most cases, failure or non-compliance in using catalytic converters that clean up the most damaging but invisible portion of the auto exhausts is responsible for this deteriorating situation. Shockingly, law enforcers appear to have become resigned to the appalling situation, although they are supposed to go into action. Surely, it is not a natural disaster or a disaster that cannot be tackled by human effort.
Industries without pollution control devices also poison the air, but they do not pose as much threat as the relentless increase in the number of vehicles. The city's vehicle population has almost increased ten times since 2000. A study in 2008 concluded that an estimated 15,000 premature deaths every year as well as several million cases of pulmonary, respiratory and neurological illness are attributable to poor air quality. Among the industries, the brick kilns are the major culprits, especially during the manufacturing season of October to March, contributing to about 40% of the total pollution. With about 700 brick kilns located to the north of the city and operating in flagrant violation of the environmental regulations, pollution peaks go up to 230 mg/cubic metre, especially in January.
Parents are greatly alarmed at the prospect that children are at higher risk because they breathe more times per minute. What can people do to avoid this catastrophic situation? They cannot leave the city and their work places, and they cannot stop children from breathing.
For millions there is no choice. Their lives, their jobs, their future depend on being here. At the same time, thousands of people from the rural surroundings arrive each day to the metropolis, desperate for economic opportunities. Thousands more are born here each day. In some cases, families work on the streets and live there.
The government can't do what it must to end this problem. For a city like Dhaka, the nerve-centre of 15 million people, barring excessive cars, closing factories and bringing about remedial measures in public transportation are simply not an option. But as things get worse, the government has to do something, like prohibiting cars from plying unnecessarily, sometimes with no passengers, and taking stringent and punitive measures against vehicles spewing noxious fumes.
The main problem underlying the city's malaise is simple; the city is attracting far more people that it can absorb. A population of 10 lakh people in 1960 zoomed to 0.9 million in 1996 and then to 15 million in 2012. This influx ushered in a vibrant society, but it has also had dire effects. Denizens of Dhaka city have to scale back their dreams if they have to stave off the disaster that is looming.
Car pooling and mass transit would unclog roads and release less pollution into the atmosphere. The most urgent need is to run suburban trains from Kamalapur to Joydevpur and back to Kamalapur, with stoppages at Maghbazar, Tejgaon, Banani and Uttara. Double-decker bus from Kamalapur, Gulistan, Azimpur to Mirpur and Tongi should be introduced with fixed stoppages. Buses have to be strictly forbidden to make unscheduled stoppages on the roads for taking passengers. Issuance of license and withdrawal of buses and minibuses that only accommodate 25 to 30 people for city transportation should henceforth be discontinued. This will remove road congestion, lessening number of deaths on the road, as well as result in cleaner air.
Housing needs and schools for children should be met by building multiple-family dwellings in areas where jobs are available or where jobs already exist and the environment is at less risk. Rajuk must now revise their ideas about allotting plots for housing purposes. Housing complexes with modest amenities tinged with architectural beauty, landscape design and good living environment that fulfill the need and aspiration of the people should henceforth be developed both by Rajuk and the developers at different locations of the city having access to transportation facilities. These should be sold to the government and private individuals on a long term payment basis. This will curb corruption among government employees in acquiring wealth by resorting to corrupt practices for buying a plot of land and building a house.
The country, especially Dhaka city, is passing through a perilous situation because regulations are lax, implementation slow, and evasion rampant. We feel concerned not only for our children who will turn sterile in future but for our own existence that is at stake. The city has become unlivable now and it is because of the fact that we are blithely ignoring the law.
The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.
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