Air pollution kills 15,000 Bangladeshis each year: The role of public administration and government’s integrity

Abstract

The paper explores the susceptibility of the urban population of Bangladesh to air pollution, recommend measures
to be adopted for prevention of air pollution. The large number of children, street children, local streetwalkers, and
rickshaw pullers in Dhaka City are at particular risk from this air pollution. Young children are mostly exposed to
cadmium (Cd) through inhalation of smokes and contaminated soils and dust from industrial emissions and
sewage sludge. The high lead (Pb) in the environment from gasoline, paints, ceramics, batteries, etc., has also
been factor to increase the risk of polluted air. The study was done through internet, seminar and literature survey
on global and regional information on Environment, analysis of the existing situation in Bangladesh. Air pollution
kills 15,000 Bangladeshis each year, according to a World Bank report released recently. The report says
Bangladesh could save between $200 million and $800 million per year, about 0.7 to 3.0% of its gross national
product, if air pollution in the country's four major cities was reduced. The report adds that 6.5 million people in
those cities suffer each year. Vehicular air pollution is a major cause of respiratory distress in urban Bangladesh.
According to the National Institute of Diseases of Chest and Hospital (NIDCH), nearly seven million people in
Bangladesh suffer from asthma, more than half of them are children. Air pollution kills an estimated 2.7 to 3.0
million people every year throughout the world, and 6% of all annual deaths. About 9 deaths in every 10 due to air
pollution take place in the developing world, where about 80% of all people live. In 1995, the average ozone
concentration in Mexico City was about 0.15 parts per million, 10 times the natural atmospheric concentration and
twice the maximum permitted in Japan or the US. The density of lead in the air of Dhaka is 463 nanograms per
cubic metre, which is ten times more than the acceptable standard and several times more than the
aforementioned cities, even than the most polluted city of Mexico. The level of lead poisoning is a major factor
responsible for decreasing the mental abilities of the children as a result of which the country will have acute
shortage of intellectuals in the long run. Let us make all possible steps to make people understand the
environmental situation of the country and make them swear to vote for those who will swear to save the
environment of our country for us as well as for our next generations. The only way to enhance the ethical
accountability of public administration is that Bangladesh Government should immediately translate its National
Environmental Policy, transport policy into action t o b en ef i t t h e p eo p l e o f t h i s cou n t ry .