Demand for immediate removal of cigarette factory from Mohakhali DOHS, Dhaka
The harmful cigarette factory in the DOHS area of Mohakhali, Dhaka, should be removed immediately and relocated outside the city to protect the environment and public health. The company should not be allowed to produce any new tobacco or cigarettes in the country.
This call was made at a press conference titled “Tobacco Company Activities Threaten Environment and Health: Strengthening the Law is Urgent” organized by the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance on May 12, 2025. Press Release.
Under the Bangladesh Environment Act of 1995 and the Bangladesh Environment Regulation of 1997, tobacco companies were classified as red-class industrial establishments, highlighting their significant environmental impact.
Red-class industrial establishments cannot be located in residential areas due to their significant impact on the environment and human health. Realizing this, tobacco has been cleverly brought from red to orange category in the revised Bangladesh Environment Regulations of 1997.
A K M Maksud, Executive Director of the Gram Bangla Development Committee, presented the main article at a press conference led by Helal Ahmed, Acting Coordinator of the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance.
Shagufta Sultana, Project Director of the Aid Foundation, Professor A. F. M. Sarwar, Faculty of the Department of Occupational Environmental Health, BUHS, answered questions from media personnel at the press conference.
Development activities led by Society Team Lead Md Bazlur Rahman, TCRC Member Secretary, BNTTP Project Manager Hamidul Islam Hillol, and 71 Television Special Representative Sushant Sinha. The meeting was moderated by Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance Office Affairs Secretary Syeda Ananya Rahman.
More than fifty media personnel and representatives of local organizations working on tobacco control were also present at the press conference.
Despite producing harmful products, tobacco companies have been operating in residential areas for a long time, influencing policymakers.
The Bangladesh Constitution supports environmental protection and public health, but some government agencies are acting unconstitutionally against cigarette companies. Mohakhali DOHS serves as a vital mixed-use residential neighborhood in Dhaka.
Tobacco chemicals from BAT factories are polluting the air, leading to health issues like respiratory problems in children. Large trucks transporting tobacco leaves and products across the country are putting significant pressure on local roads. This is also causing traffic jams, noise pollution, and air pollution.
Countries are relocating harmful tobacco factories from city centres to promote healthier environments. A 200-acre plot once owned by tobacco companies is now the Benjakitti Forest Park, a public park in Bangkok. A tobacco factory in Athens, Greece, built in 1927, a tobacco factory in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, have now been converted into a cultural center.
The Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court has issued instructions in a writ case related to the Voyage of Discovery to control tobacco cultivation, not to issue licenses to new tobacco companies, and to remove existing tobacco companies from the tobacco business.
However, the export duty on tobacco leaves has been reduced from 25% to zero percent. Tobacco cultivation in the country has increased rapidly, worsening the food crisis.
Public health workers reported that despite the Bangladesh Supreme Court’s Appellate Division’s ban on new cigarette companies, BEPZA and BIDA are attempting to approve new tobacco firms in industrial areas to boost investment.
Which is tantamount to disobeying the instructions of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. We would like to remind these two organizations of the republic of Bangladesh.
All departments of the republic must comply with the instructions from the Bangladesh Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. Investment that destroys the health and environment of the people of your own country is not a form of development. We call on BIDA and BEPZA to ensure that investment that can be developed while protecting health and the environment.
For a long time, environmental and anti-tobacco organizations have been calling for the prevention of unethical interference by tobacco companies.
The Anti-Tobacco organizatio descrive the Press Conference: “We call for the implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC, a global agreement that is one of the safeguards against the aggression of cigarette companies, stopping the misuse of social responsibility programs (CSR) by tobacco companies, withdrawing government shares from tobacco companies, and fully reinstating the 25% duty on tobacco companies.
In addition, it is necessary to red-list harmful products like tobacco by amending the Environmental Protection Rules 2023.”
“We demand that BAT’s tobacco factory be removed from the DOHS in Mohakhali, an important residential area of Dhaka city, without delay, and a park suitable for public use be constructed here.” At the same time, we demand the rapid amendment of the Tobacco Control Act.” express in the conference.
