Air quality in Dhaka

We can say without mincing words that the authority has totally failed to prevent unfit vehicles plying on the roads. All the initiative taken last year in this behalf came to naught. By one count, almost 90 per cent of the vehicles running on the city streets are not roadworthy. In fact, all the hopes for a pollution-free, dust-free city came crashing down even after the two stroke 'baby taxis' that was termed as the main cause for the pollution, were taken off the roads. Similarly, the authority also failed to regulate those thousands of brick kilns surrounding the capital. And what about the continuous road digging in the name of beautification and construction sites? The Mahakhali rail crossing where a road fly-over is being built is a prime example of the authorities' lack of concern about our health.

Naturally, the city-dwellers have been complaining of respiratory complications. The children are the worst-hit. That is all the more reason for taking immediate steps. Changing the laws or even implementing them will not bring the desired results. No unfit vehicles should be allowed on the roads and those that are irreparable must be ordered out of the streets. Many tend to believe that a large number of public sector transports do need to be phased out. Until we are fully seized of the risks we are facing and prove sincere in our efforts to curb these, no amount of 'massive cleaning programme' will bring the changes we are looking for.

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