Aminbazar landfill will generate 42.5MW from waste: Mayor Atiq

The construction of the 42.5MW power plant in Dhaka's Aminbazar area is going to begin on 6 July to generate electricity from waste, for the first time in Bangladesh's history, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam has said. 

"Every day we are discharging 3,500 tonnes of wastes at Aminbazar landfill, which pollutes the area. We will lay the foundation stone of the waste-based plant here on 6 July. All arrangements are done," he said at a seminar at the Department of Environment auditorium on Tuesday.

Mayor Atiqul Islam said, "The Aminbazar landfill is a big challenge. Our waste is mixed, that's because its calorific value is so low. But now we ultimately got a solution. But now we ultimately got a solution. The Prime Minister will attend the 6 July programme." 

The Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in collaboration with The World Bank, UNICEF, Pure Earth, University of Dhaka (Department of Oceanography, Department of Geography and Environment), and Bangladesh Bondhu Foundation organised the seminar on "Integrated Pollution Management for a Clean and Healthy Bangladesh and Green Growth".

In this seminar, experts said, pollution affects health, education, agriculture, and industrial productivity, including climate and ecosystems in Bangladesh. 

In 2019, pollution caused nearly 275,000 deaths and 5.2 billion days of illness and impaired intelligence among children, amounting to a loss of over 20 million IQ points – a cost equivalent to about 15.3% of the GDP. 

According to a study titled "Global & Country Situation Assessment of Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh", 1 in 3 children, 800 million, have blood lead levels at or above 5 μg/dL. Lead is harmful to children's developing brain, and causes learning difficulties, underperformance in school, and behavioural issues. 

In Bangladesh, children's Blood Lead Level (BLL) was 6.83 µg/dL (IHME, 2019). 35.5 million Children under 19 years with Blood Lead Level above 5 ug/dL, approximately 60% of all children Nearly 10 million of these children have a blood lead level. 

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, said, "It is the government's responsibility to improve public health. It has to fix who will take charge of public health- the Health Ministry or the Local government or the Department of Environment."

Earlier on 12 November 2020, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved the proposal for a 42.5MW waste-based power project.