Mass rapid transit to improve the health of masses

In the Air Quality Index of November 2022, Dhaka again ranked as the world's most polluted city, and it has been manifested in numerous studiesthat air pollution is greatly associated with a multitude of health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalisations, changes in lung function, asthma attacks, and even deaths.

Studies have also suggested that worldwide, 8.8 million deaths are caused by air pollution each year, and Bangladesh alone sees 108,000 air pollution-related deaths per year. According to a report published by the World Bank and the Department of Environment (DoE), the primary sources of Dhaka's air pollution are brick kilns, vehicle fumes, and construction dust. Therefore, to reduce air pollution in Dhaka, addressing these sources is a must, and Mass Rapid Transit may have the potential to do that.

The MRT Line-6 of Dhaka is expected to open to the public by the end of this December, and a recently completed simulation has concluded that 20% to 40% of Dhaka's citizens will use the metro instead of cars for their daily commuting once it opens. A 20% reduction in car trips has the likelihood of reducing 80,223 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

This colossal shift from cars to public transportation will also reduce traffic jams and sharply reduce the emission of harmful PM 2.5, which causes numerous health effects such as eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, a runny nose, and shortness of breath.

Another study in Malaysia suggested that transportation system like the metro rail can reduce as many as 88 road accident-related deaths per year. Mass Rapid Transits have also been reported to decrease 6,300 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which means a sum of 6,300 years of life might not be wasted due to ill-health, disability, or early death anymore.

A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it is where the rich use public transportation. Therefore, to be identified as a truly developed country, we must favour public transportation over the private ones and the Mass Rapid Transit can be our first step towards that. Although the construction period of the project had an adverse impact on our health and environment, it still has the potential to improve the quality of life in the long run.

Fariha Mustafa is a student of Urban and Regional Planning at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Email: farihamustafa737@gmail.com; M Tanjim Hasan Khan is a freelance researcher and writer. Email: tanjimhk98@gmail.com