HC for introducing air pollution alert system to save people
The court issued directives to formulate a time-bound action plan to identify the key sources of air pollution and reduce air pollution across the country
The High Court on Tuesday directed the authorities concerned to introduce an alert system for issuing cautionary messages to save people from unhealthy, severely unhygienic, and gravely polluted air.
Besides, the court issued directives to formulate a time-bound action plan to identify the key sources of air pollution and reduce air pollution across the country.
The bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the orders after hearing a petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) seeking necessary orders to comply with the HC directives issued on 15 February 2022.
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The High Court also issued a rule, asking the respondents to explain why their failure to mitigate air pollution and save people from unhealthy air should not be declared illegal and why they should not be directed to control and improve air pollution.
Fifteen persons including the cabinet secretary; senior secretary to the Local Government Division of, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change; Secretary to the Ministry of Industries; Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Public Works and Secretary to the Health Services Division of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were directed to implement the HC order.
The court asked them to submit a compliance report to this effect before it.
Earlier in 2022, BELA filed the writ petition seeking necessary instructions to prevent air pollution.
Following the primary hearing on 15 February that year, the HC issued a rule to the defendants, questioning the legality and their failure to control air pollution and protect public health.
The court had also ordered the installation of Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (CAMS) at suitable locations for constant monitoring of air quality and to introduce an alert system to protect people from hazardous and unhealthy air.
According to Air Visual Observation, an international organisation that monitors air pollution, the Air Quality Index, the air quality of the capital Dhaka during the last week of December 2023 and most days of January 2024 was unhealthy, very unhealthy, and "dangerous". But no warning message has been issued despite the HC order to protect the public from it.
