Bangladesh government will firm in issuing Environmental clearance in favor of the implementation/Rehabilitation of projects – Hopes Sultana Kamal, the president of BAPA
By Adnan Tazvir
Sultana Kamal, president of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon -BAPA (Bangladesh Environment Movement), urged the people not to take any project that is harmful to public health and the environment and to take firm decision to give environmental clearance to any organization.
She was speaking at a virtual seminar on World Environment Day on Saturday titled ‘Impact of Air and Noise Pollution on Urban Ecology’.
Sultana Kamal further said, “Nature is giving us everything in its hands but we are destroying nature equally.”
Commenting on the recent remarks of the Bangladesh Prime Minister on granting clearances to some projects of the government, she said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin has instructed that if any project does not get clearance from the Department of Environment for implementation within the stipulated time, it should be taken as a ‘sign of silent consent’.”
The Prime Minister gave such instructions at the ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) meeting on Tuesday, said Muhammad Abdul Mannan, Planning Minister Of Bangladesh.
Humayun Kabir, Additional Director General of the Department of Environment (Bangladesh), said in the Webinar meeting that the process of destroying nature has been going on for a long time. That has to stop now. He said that the Department of Environment is working on this.
He added, “Noise and air pollution have now reached unimaginable levels. Raising public awareness is essential to control noise pollution.”
He requested the Department of Environment, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC),
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority ( BRTA), and all city corporations of the country to include noise and air pollution in their training activities.
In the performance of Sharif Zamil, General Secretary of BAPA, AM Zakir Hossain, Former Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and convener of Environmental Health Program of BAPA, Kamrul Hasan, Professor of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University, Mohammad Jasim, Professor of Department of Botany of
University of Dhaka, Nitish Chandra Debnath, One Health Bangladesh Bangladesh, Professor Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, Joint Secretary, BAPA and Director, Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), and Gulshan Ara Latifa, Advisor of Department of Environmental Sciences, Stamford University Bangladesh spoke in that Webinar meeting.
