Unfit Vehicles as a Major Cause of Air Pollution

Local government, rural development and cooperatives minister Tajul Islam told Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday that one of the main causes of air pollution was unfit vehicles, black smoke emitted from factories and brick kilns, besides dust pollution caused by urbanisation.

The minister said this in the parliament while responding to a tabled question of ruling Awami League lawmaker Mohammad Sayeed Khokon.

He mentioned that modern technology-based sanitary landfills and waste-to-energy projects were planned to control methane gas emissions.

In response to a question from Awami League lawmaker M Abdul Latif, the minister stated that according to the Joint Monitoring Programme 2022, improved sanitation in the entire country was 84 percent, and safely managed sanitation was 39 percent.

Replying to another question from the same lawmaker, the minister said that the Dhaka South City Corporation had initiated the formulation of no-objection regulations for land development, building construction, or reconstruction to promote planned urbanization and make Dhaka habitable. If implemented, these regulations will bring visible changes by preventing uncontrolled construction and managing population density in the capital, thereby playing an effective role in planned urbanization.

Answering a question from ruling party lawmaker Afzal Hossain, the minister said that to enhance economic development and civic amenities, initiatives were taken to construct, renovate, and preserve necessary infrastructure in rural and urban areas nationwide under the Local Government Engineering Department.

In response to a question from AL lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury, AKM Mozammel Haque, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office for parliamentary affairs, stated that from July 2023 to June 22, 2024, in the current financial year 2023-2024, a total of 1,087 industrial projects had been registered through the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority’s One Stop Service. This includes 961 local, 60 joint ventures, and 66 foreign industrial projects. The total investment proposals received amounted to Tk 8,56,502 million, with local investment proposals of Tk 7,56,041 million and foreign investment proposals of Tk 1,00,461 million.

In response to another question from Awami League lawmaker Abdul Latif, Liberation War Minister Mozammel Haque said that the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority aims to attract domestic and foreign investment in the private sector, provide better services, achieve effective coordination, and create an investment-friendly environment. From February 2019 to May 2024, BIDA registered a total of 4,711 industrial projects (4,130 local and 581 foreign), resulting in proposed investments of Tk 28,30,537.85 million and the creation of 5,37,356 jobs