Campaign against polythene started to protect the environment: Syeda Rizwana Hasan

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the prominent Environmentalist and Adviser of the Bangladesh Interim Government on Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, (MOEFCC), Bangladesh, said that the campaign against polythene will start from September.

She responded to journalists’ questions after meeting with the World Bank delegation at her office on August 22, 2024.

The advisor said, buy polythene bags from the shop you go to. I don’t even tell you why you are giving polythene bags; it is prohibited.

We also bring it by hand. We will go to the markets for 15 to 20 days first, then we will go on expeditions. This is a decision for now.

In response to the question of when the campaign will start, she said that the date has not been fixed. Because several other organizations are involved with it. Now everyone is in a movement mood.

Everyone is demanding things from each other. Law enforcement agencies are busy in that direction. However, you will be able to see the start of the program by September 2024.

Rizwana Hasan mentioned that solving air pollution will take time, but we are working on detailed action plans to control various sources of air pollution before this winter.

Construction will no longer be approved if they do not show air pollution mitigation plans and money. We can talk about monitoring them.

She said mega planning is going on here, but there is no air pollution control. We will try to arrange that place. Construction will happen, but construction cannot be done by polluting the air. It can be done at low cost.

The World Bank will help by getting the Department of Environment, Bangladesh, to identify the most polluted rivers and polluters. When we get them, we can put together a monitoring plan.

As a result, no detailed outline was made. But there is an outline, there is talk about adding new components. They said that they will try to help in every possible way.