12-point plan to make Dhaka green and clean, with five lakh trees in five years and 250 electric buses

The government is moving ahead with a coordinated action plan to turn the capital Dhaka into a clean, green and liveable city. Several initiatives have been taken with air pollution control, reducing vehicle smoke, modernising waste management, restoring canals, planting trees and beautifying the city in focus.

The programmes are being implemented by involving the Dhaka North and South City Corporations, the Department of Environment, the Local Government Division and other agencies concerned. The government's aim is to make the capital fit for living by restoring environmental balance alongside development work.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman presented a 12-point action plan in the Jatiya Sangsad on April 29 to transform the capital into a clean and green city. Various initiatives on cleanliness, waste management, tree plantation and environmental protection are being implemented through the Dhaka North and South City Corporations.

An important part of the plan is to plant five lakh (500,000) trees in the Dhaka North City Corporation area over the next five years. Tree plantation is planned on empty spaces along the metro rail line from Mirpur-12 to Mirpur DOHS and along the elevated expressway from Abdullahpur to Farmgate.

Urban forests are also being created in different parts of the city using the Miyawaki method. Initiatives have been taken to bring open road medians under soil-free greening and to plant trees along roadsides.

To bring a major change to Dhaka's waste management, the government plans to turn the Matuail landfill into an integrated waste management and energy production centre. An initiative is being taken to produce electricity from waste with investment from a Korean private company. Its aim is to turn waste into a resource and reduce pressure on the environment. The city's waste transfer stations are also being modernised.

Dhaka South City Corporation is planting trees on road medians, traffic islands and open spaces. Cleanliness drives, mosquito control and citizen awareness programmes are also under way under the two city corporations.

The Department of Environment and the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority have jointly taken an initiative to launch a modern bus service to reduce the capital's air pollution. As part of the plan, 250 electric buses are to be operated. The government hopes electric buses will reduce dependence on fuel-run vehicles and help control pollution from the transport sector.

With World Bank support, the main sources of Dhaka's air pollution have been identified. The Department of Environment is regularly running mobile courts to control pollution from black-smoke-emitting vehicles, construction work and construction materials. Drives are also under way to close illegal brick kilns around Dhaka.

Savar upazila has been declared a degraded air-quality area for pollution control. Operating brick kilns there and burning waste in open places have been banned.

Alongside improving the capital's environment, work on canal restoration, boundary demarcation, excavation and waste removal is being taken forward to resolve waterlogging. Significant progress has been made in demarcating the boundaries of 29 canals under Dhaka North City Corporation. Boundary demarcation of canals in the south city is also under way.

Initiatives have also been taken to control industrial waste to protect rivers and water bodies around the capital. Setting up effluent treatment plants (ETPs) has been made mandatory for industrial establishments that discharge liquid waste. So far 248 establishments have installed ETPs. Work is under way to install cameras to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.

The sources and types of pollution of the Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Balu and Turag rivers and 19 important canals of Dhaka have also been identified. Through this, an initiative is being taken to make the activities of the agencies concerned in pollution control more planned.

Alongside the government's plan, a court order on pollution control has also come into discussion again. On November 2, the High Court ordered the authorities concerned to submit a report within two weeks on implementation of its nine-point directives from 2020. The directives include sprinkling water on roads, enclosing construction sites, transporting sand-carrying trucks covered, and closing illegal brick kilns. The next hearing has been set for November 16.