Dhaka air pollution: High Court seeks implementation report on nine-point directives within two weeks
The High Court has directed the respondents to submit a report to the court within two weeks on what steps have been taken to implement its earlier nine-point directives to control air pollution in Dhaka. The respondents have been asked to file the report in the form of an affidavit.
The case came up for orders on Monday (November 2) before a High Court bench comprising Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan. The court issued the directive after hearing an application filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). The next hearing has been fixed for November 16.
Lawyer Manzil Morshed appeared for the applicant. The applicant's side argued that Dhaka's air pollution is rising with the change of season, but no effective steps are being taken in line with the court's earlier directives to control it, putting the health of city residents at risk.
The background of the case goes back several years. In 2020, the High Court issued nine-point directives to the respondents following a public interest writ filed by HRPB seeking orders to act against Dhaka's air pollution.
The directives included sprinkling water at various places in the city, transporting sand-carrying trucks under cover, enclosing construction sites, bagging market waste and removing it at fixed times, and shutting down illegal brick kilns around Dhaka.
HRPB later applied to the court seeking a report on what steps had been taken to implement those directives. When reports were not filed, the court had earlier also ordered the deputy commissioners of five districts to appear before it.
The respondents in the case include the environment secretary, the mayors of Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations, the director general of the Fire Service and the director general of the Department of Environment, among others.
Under Monday's order, the respondents must file their affidavit report within two weeks, setting out the steps taken to implement the nine-point directives. The next hearing of the case will then be held on November 16.
