The government has adopted a 12-point action plan to make Dhaka a "clean and green city". Prime Minister Tarique Rahman set out the plan in parliament on the morning of 29 April during question time, answering a question from Abul Kalam, MP for Cumilla-9.

The prime minister said various steps were being taken through the Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations, under the Local Government Division, to turn the capital into a clean and green city. Weekly awareness activities are being held to raise public awareness and involvement, and special cleaning and mosquito-control drives are being stepped up.

Secondary transfer stations (waste dumping points) are being modernised with landscaping, greening and awareness graffiti to manage waste in an environmentally sound way. Dhaka South City Corporation plans to turn the Matuail landfill into an integrated circular-economy waste management and energy generation centre, with investment from a Korea-based private company, to convert all waste to zero waste. "I hope these activities and integrated management will gradually make it possible to build a clean and green Dhaka," the prime minister said.

The session began at 11am with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed in the chair. Forty minutes were set aside at the start for the prime minister's question time. There were 8 questions for the prime minister on Wednesday, and within the allotted time he answered 2 questions from MPs and supplementary questions.

The initiatives and plans to make Dhaka a clean and green city include tree planting to green road medians, traffic islands and open spaces in the Dhaka South City Corporation area.

In various areas under Dhaka North City Corporation, urban forests (Miyawaki forests) are being created, and open medians are being covered with zero-soil greenery.

Dhaka North City Corporation has set a target of planting 5 lakh trees in its area over the next 5 years. Trees will also be planted in the empty space beneath the metro rail (from Mirpur-12 to Mirpur DOHS) and beneath the elevated expressway (the section from Abdullahpur to Farmgate).

In his written statement, the prime minister said the Department of Environment has given priority to controlling pollution in Dhaka to make it a clean and green city. The measures it has taken are:

• To control air pollution in Dhaka, the Department of Environment and the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) are working together to introduce a modern bus service and 250 electric buses.
• With World Bank support, the main sources of air pollution in Dhaka have been identified, and the department is working to control them accordingly. Mobile courts are regularly run against vehicles emitting black smoke and against air pollution from construction work and building materials.
• Steps have been taken to shut illegal polluting brick kilns around Dhaka, with regular mobile courts and enforcement drives.
• To reduce air pollution in the capital, Savar upazila has been declared a degraded airshed, and brick kiln operation and open burning of waste have been banned there.
• To prevent pollution of rivers, canals and water bodies in and around Dhaka, effluent treatment plants (ETPs) have been made mandatory for establishments discharging liquid waste. ETPs have so far been installed at 248 establishments, and cameras are being installed for real-time monitoring of them. The Department of Environment has identified the sources and nature of pollution in the Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Balu and Turag rivers, and in 19 main canals flowing through the city.

To cover Dhaka in greenery, reduce pollution and beautify the city, the Forest Department has signed memoranda of understanding with the Dhaka North and South city corporations, the Water Development Board and the Roads and Highways Department, and jointly carried out tree planting and zero-soil programmes on road medians, U-loops, ponding areas and canal banks. Under this programme, 41,565 saplings of various fruit, timber, medicinal and ornamental species have been planted.

To reduce pollution, the ground has also been covered with various creepers, shrubs and grasses. As part of a programme to plant 25 crore trees over the next 5 years, trees are to be planted on vacant land suitable for afforestation to make Dhaka a clean and green city.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.