Balancing development, environment safety big challenge: Minister

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin today said maintaining a balance between development and environmental safety issues is the biggest challenge of the present government.

“If biodiversity is not maintained alongside development then we will fall behind in achieving sustainable development goals within 2030,” he said at a workshop at Hotel Intercontinental in the capital.

The environment, forest and climate change ministry arranged the workshop to discuss aspects of a draft law on “clean air” with different stakeholders.

Addressing as chief guest, the minister said the government is firm in ensuring sustainable development in all sectors and its reflection is visible during recent eviction drives against illegal river encroachments.

The government is careful in implementing different development projects so that environmental hazards do not pose threat to people’s lives, he said.

At the workshop, discussants said once passed in the parliament, the Clean Air Act will strengthen the Department of Environment’s authority in curbing polluters.

As per the draft act, a person can be penalised with two years imprisonment for committing an offence for the first time. A person can be awarded up to 10 years imprisonment for repeated commission of an offence, it says.

Moreover, companies and public agencies can be held accountable and awarded with punishment for violating law, says the draft act.

Addressing the workshop, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said the country’s air quality reaches to “critical stage” during dry season, from October to March.

The law should be passed in the parliament before start of the dry season, he said.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said different countries have prioritised air pollution and also enacted extensive laws to this end.

She hoped the proposed law will open a new window in maintaining environmental safety in the country.