Editorial
Schooling in noxious gases
Government must intervene
A front page report in The Daily Star appears with a vivid photographic illustration of school children sitting in a classroom wearing masks in order to save them from choking industrial smog billowing from the nearby factories. In Shaympur area, thick black smoke emitting from nearby steel re-rolling mills are forcing people and children of the locality to inhale polluted air. So acute is the state of pollution that a teacher of the government primary school at Kadamtali near Narayanganj said that she could hardly see the black board because of the thick black smoke entering through the ventilators and could not even see clearly the faces of her pupils. It is alleged that owners of the factories -- four steel mills and a textile mill -- despite complains from the local people continued to operate undaunted on the strength of a local lawmaker.
Clearly this has not only been a serious health hazard to the public in general but it has also resulted in affecting the health of the tender aged boys and girls. Little wonder, a few years back the Bakchar school had a 1600 enrolment figure, but now it has dropped down to 945. Teachers of a number of schools are also seeking transfer elsewhere.
Given the horrific scenario the Director of Environment's comment makes us sit up: "They do not have specific allegations against these industries".
We find the entire matter to be not only outrageous but also sad and unfortunate. We urge the Department of Environment to not only visit the schools and identify any more such schools there might be but also take urgent measures to rectify the situation. If need be let the factories be relocated to some other suitable locations or adopt suitable pollution control measures. We urge the government to intervene to make sure this happens to protect public health in the locality.
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