Dhaka became one of the cleanest cities in the world under strict restrictions. Within days of the lifting of the ban, the city was again listed as one of the most polluted. The weather in Dhaka was the worst since Vancouver, Canada on Saturday. Vehicle fumes have played a major role in this pollution. Experts have been saying this for several years. A recent study has also raised the issue. According to a study conducted in the world’s most polluted cities, Dhaka ranks third in terms of pollution from car smoke. This is causing more deaths. Here, about 10 times the world average mortality rate. There is more pollution in the traffic-prone areas. That’s almost four times the standard of the World Health Organization. The study, entitled “Health Risks from Car Smoke Pollution in Cities in 10 Countries”, was recently published in the international science journal Environment International.
The study was conducted by 15 researchers from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh, China, Iraq, Egypt, Tanzania, Colombia, and Malawi. Abdus Salam, one of the members of the research team and professor of chemistry at Dhaka University, told Prothom Alake that air pollution is increasing in Dhaka as a whole. But to understand what kind of pollution is coming from which source, the study was done on the big cities of the world’s most populous and middle-income countries.
The city of Dhaka is at health risk due to car pollution
The role of vehicles in air pollution in the capital is increasing rapidly, so if these sources are not shut down from now on, public health will be at serious risk. The study considered the amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is harmful to the human body, in the smoke emitted from cars. In Dhaka city, on average, there are 92 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter of air per year. According to the World Health Organization, it should be 25 micrograms. This pollution is mainly due to old cars, low-quality fuel, traffic jams, speed and number of vehicles. Passengers, pedestrians, and roadside residents are at risk. The air in Dhaka is the least polluted in the morning and the most polluted in the evening.
Here 3 lakh 35 thousand vehicles run in 1 thousand 640 square kilometers. About two and a half percent of the residents ride in private cars. They get polluted just by lowering the car glass. The rest travel by bus, walk, and rickshaw. Almost all of them fall prey to pollution. Besides Dhaka, Chennai, Velar, IndiBangalore, Delhi, Guangzhou, China, Nanjing, Colombia, Baigata and Madeleine, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Laundry, Egypt, Sulaymaniyah, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Malabar. It has been seen that the speed of vehicles in these cities is the lowest in Dar es Salaam.
The pollution in Dhaka is about four times the standard and the death is ten times more
There the car travels at a speed of 9 kilometers per hour. Then there is Dhaka, the speed is 14 kilometers per hour. In these two cities, people spend most of their time in polluted air. Dhaka ranks third in terms of health risks due to polluted air emitted from cars. In the first and second place are Darussalam and Blantaori. About two and a half out of every one million people in Dar es Salaam die from this pollution. One died in Dhaka and Blantaori. This pollution kills an average of one person out of every one million people in the world. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) certifies which vehicles can run in Dhaka and which cannot. The search revealed that they did not have a vehicle measuring device. Checking the fitness of the car.
An initiative has been taken to purchase this device with the funding of the World Bank. After that, the work will start to reduce the pollution. BRTA Director (Enforcement) May. Sarwar Alam told Prothom Alake that they also held a meeting in Dhaka on Thursday to control vehicle pollution. A fine of around Tk 1 lakh was imposed on vehicles in Dhaka yesterday for various reasons including air pollution. This campaign will increase in the future. Syed Nazmul Ahsan, director (air management) of the environment department, said they were also stepping up campaigns to improve air quality in Dhaka.
