Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said that political parties must include a clear roadmap and implementation plan for environmental protection in their election manifestos.
Addressing the youth present, she said, “You must hold the elected government accountable for preventing environmental pollution.”
The adviser said these things in her speech as the chief guest at the fourth and final session of the four-part manifesto talk titled “Road to Green Manifesto: Dialogue with Political Parties” organised at the Department of Environment in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Saturday.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan informed about the initiatives taken by her ministry during the interim government’s tenure. She said, “We have started the solution process; the next elected government must take it forward. They must adopt and implement programmes keeping air pollution, noise pollution, industrial pollution, river pollution, etc, on the priority list.”
She informed that 13 percent of our air pollution comes from brick kilns. Additionally, road dust, leaving construction materials exposed, vehicle exhaust, burning waste – these are the main causes of air pollution. A scrap policy has been formulated to stop black smoke from vehicles.
“Now it needs to be implemented. We have declared Savar as a ‘Degraded Airshed’. While conducting operations to shut down brick kilns, we faced many legal obstacles. Since work couldn’t be done through bribes this time, we had to shut down their brick kilns; we have reduced brick kilns from 106 to 30. The advisor said that this year, Dhaka has been at the top in air pollution for fewer days compared to previous years. Furthermore, to prevent air pollution, we have passed a project worth thousands of crores at the ECNEC to increase the capacity of Eastern Refinery,” she said.
The adviser further said that the Noise Pollution Rules, 2025, have been formulated to prevent noise pollution. Separate regulations have also been made for forest and wildlife conservation.
“We have recovered thousands of acres of forest land encroached upon for various reasons. The advisor informed that Dhaka has four rivers and twenty canals. Canal excavation has been done through small-scale activities. This time, waterlogging in Dhaka has been less. Addressing the youth present, the adviser said, you must not be disappointed; the work must be carried forward systematically.”
Chaired by Brighters’ Chair Fariha Amir, the event also featured speeches by Manifesto Talk convener Habibur Rahman, CPD’s Md. Shamsuddoha, CEGIS Executive Director Malik Fida A Khan, DNCC Administrator Md Azad, NCP’s Ariful Islam Adib and Monira Sharmin, BNP’s Israfil Khosru, and Islamic Movement’s Fazle Bari Masud. A PowerPoint presentation was given by Brighters’ Founder and Director Syedur Rahman.
