Talk of air pollution is almost always about Dhaka, but the problem is national, argues writer and researcher Gawher Nayeem Wahra in a column on Prothom Alo's opinion page. The views are the writer's own.
He describes a dakhil madrasa at Barpakhia in Kaliganj, Jhenaidah, where pupils study in the open because the smell from a neighbouring poultry farm makes the classrooms unbearable. Citing the Department of Livestock Services, he notes that the country has 90,000 registered poultry farms and about 200,000 unregistered ones.
The government's new poultry policy requires farms to be at least 300 metres from schools and homes and 200 metres from each other, with biogas plants and liquid waste management on commercial farms. Citing the FAO, he says such buffer zones reduce dust and odour and help control disease, and that biogas from poultry litter can produce electricity and organic fertiliser.
Another source is illegal kilns that burn jute sticks into charcoal, whose carbon is exported to China. He saw them in Pabna, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Rajbari. Residents complain that ash and black smoke are making people ill and harming trees and crops; experts quoted in the column say the heat disrupts pollination and drives away bees.
In 2022 the textiles and jute ministry began a charcoal policy that would ban kilns in the wrong places, require environmental clearance and fit smoke treatment. In his view those orders remain on paper.
Planting deciduous trees such as mahogany and Indian almond along roads also adds to pollution, because the fallen leaves are piled and burned in winter. He suggests evergreen species such as chhatim, debdaru, bakul and jam, and avoiding acacia, whose pollen can cause breathing problems.
Source: Prothom Alo
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