Bangladesh High Court has issued a nine-point directive to prevent air pollution in the capital of Dhaka
-Tahsin Taha (Student, Dept. of Law,
North-South University, BD)
The Hon’ble High Court of Bangladesh has issued a total of a nine-point directive to the Govt. to prevent air pollution in the capital of Dhaka. On Monday, 13 January 2020, the High Court Bench comprising of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Quader issued the order.
It is known that the Court issued the order after an expert committee’s report with a recommendation on air pollution prevention of the capital of Dhaka was presented before the Court.
The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a writ petition in the Hon’ble High Court based on a report published in the newspaper on air pollution of the capital of Dhaka on 21 January 2019, and the nine-point directive was issued in continuation of that by the Court on Monday.
Advocate Manjil Morshed was in favor of the writ petitioner in the Court. In contrast, the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Barrister Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar was for the state and Advocate Saeed Ahmed Raza for the City Corporation.
During the hearing, the Court wanted to know the causes of air pollution in the capital of Dhaka and what kind of steps has been taken by the Department of Environment to prevent it. At the same time, the Court has ordered to seize those kinds of vehicles which are spreading black smoke beyond the standard levels.
After the order, Advocate Manjil Morshed said that the level of air pollution in Dhaka has reached the highest worst level in the world. For this, to control the air pollution in the capital and bring it to an acceptable level, some steps need to be taken. A twelve-point directive was appealed before the Court against the government regarding this. The Court has issued a nine-point directive.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar said the project to protect the clean air and environment was undertaken by the World Bank at a cost of 300 crores.
The Hon’ble Court wanted to know how the money was spent and what kind of improvement was achieved from that project. The Court also wanted to know what kind of benefits people are getting from that project. The Department has been summoned to explain these things.
The rest of nine-points directive of the Hon’ble High Court is given below –
(i) The “Economic life” of transport has been asked to be determined according to the provisions of the Road Transport Act. It has been instructed to take necessary measures to restrict the movement of transport for those whose economic life has expired.
(ii) Without the approval of the Department of Environment, it has been directed to take steps to stop the ongoing transport tire burning and battery recycling process. After the execution of this order, the Department of Environment has been asked to submit a report to the Court within a month.
(iii) The Department of Environment has been asked to submit a report to the Court within two months after closing all illegal brick kilns in four districts nearby Dhaka (Gazipur, Munshiganj, Narayanganj, and Manikganj) that have not been closed yet.
(iv) In addition, the covering of transport including sand, dirt, and waste carrying vehicles within Dhaka city should be ensured.
(v) The city corporation has been instructed to take necessary steps to ensure that the dirt from the shops or the markets is dumped at the designated places/dustbins of the city corporation.
(vi) The city corporation has also been directed to take necessary steps to ensure that all the construction materials including the sand, cement, soil are covered at the construction site.
(vii) The Court has also instructed that the development and construction work should be ensured in accordance with the terms of the law and Rules and Regulations of the Tenders.
(viii) The city corporation has also been asked to regularly sprinkle water through the shower in the dust-prone areas that have not yet been sprinkled.
