The air we breathe circle back to us as death
Bangladesh consistently ranks amongst the worst in air quality, causing untold damage to people’s health and quality of life. The government must start taking immediate action to mitigate the damages caused by air pollution before it loses the favour of its citizens
The shocking trends of Dhaka's air quality over 2024 portray another year of looming health hazards and a cruel cut down of the quality of life for people who traverse into visible and non-visible particulate matter, inhaling a chest full of dust.
Surprisingly, this is not the first time we have come across this fact. It is so common to our lifestyle that we merely cover our noses with the palms of our hands when particulate matter is visible to our naked eyes and simply move on with life.
Many influential newspapers have already covered this horrendous topic, delineating civic misfortune and disruption of lives while simultaneously pledging solutions. So far, the conditions have only gotten worse every subsequent time and the only significant change is the variability of time.
I will explain some of the current scenarios and detrimental consequences of air pollution and how, as an inhabitant of one of the most polluted cities in the world, we are facing a multitude of health hazards.
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A recent report by Health Effect Institute (HEI) titled 'State of Global Air 2024' marks air pollution as the second-biggest risk factor of death, after high blood pressure, claiming 8.1 million lives globally and 236,300 from Bangladesh.
The very same report, based on 2021 data, cited that more than 19 thousand deaths of children aged under 5 are attributable to air pollution in Bangladesh. Shockingly, in Bangladesh, among all the deaths from lower respiratory tract infections (LRIs) in children under five, 40% of them were attributed to air pollution.
Another study by University of Chicago researchers, also based on 2021 data, calculated an increase of 12.4% PM2.5 over a period of 8 years, which marked an average loss of 6.8 years of life for Bangladeshis due to air pollution. Additional estimation pointed out that the people of South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan) would enjoy an average life increase of 5.1 years if pollution was kept in check by following WHO guidelines.
Dhaka in December was marked as the most polluted month in the past nine years of the city's history.
According to the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), December 2024 had experienced 17 days of hazardous air with an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 288. At 380 points, it was at the high end of the AQI value (generally, 301-500 AQI value is considered Hazardous).
The city resembled the dystopian city of Los Angeles in Blade Runner 2049, at least for few minutes, posing severe health risks to the exposed population, potentially leading to serious health effects even for healthy individuals.
In previous years, there were no precautionary alerts or warnings during 'hazardous' AQI conditions. The persistence of hazardous levels of air quality for more than three consecutive days requires declaring a health emergency. However, the recent environment ministry has urged "sensitive individuals" to avoid going outside unless absolutely necessary.
Early warning is a good sign, but people are also interested to know the other visible actions and mitigation procedures the interim government is implementing or intends to implement.
As repeating the mistakes of the past regime would not only bring the worst air pollution in the coming days, it would also taint people's faith in the interim government. According to a report by Bangladesh National Air Quality Management Plan, households (28%), power plants (24%), brick kilns (13%), open burnings (11%), road dust (8%) and road transport (4%) are the major responsible sources for the pollution.
As of now, no significant shifts or strict measures have been taken to address the major pollutant sources such as brick kilns, factory emissions, unfit vehicles, indiscriminate waste burning, and unchecked construction activities. However, amid all the gloomy scenarios, the interim government's environment adviser, Syeda Rizwana Hasan uplifted the civic spirit by announcing a National Air Quality Management Action Plan to take practical actions addressing pollution sources and strengthening the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Unfortunately, her words are still yet to translate into actions, despite a few months passing.
Road dust, waste and road transportation reflect a misunderstood percentage of pollution compounds presented in the Bangladesh National Air Quality Management Plan report. Although the percentage seems small and insignificant, it creates a daily picture of suffering. Previous estimates by CAPS confirmed that unplanned and uncontrolled construction and road work contributed 30%, and unfit vehicles contributed 15% of air pollution in Dhaka. Additionally, industries and brick kilns factored in 29% pof ollution.
People know, more or less, what is causing air pollution, and are worried about the health concerns and quality of life deteriorating. People are also aware of the possible solutions and where to make changes to improve air quality. Additional project initiations are expected less than strengthening existing programs and projects with consistent monitoring. There is still hope in the air; we just need collective effort from the authorities and individuals to check and filter out the pernicious elements so that we can breathe freely again.
Shabbir Ahmed is a research fellow affiliated with icddr,b. He can be reached at shbbir.ahmed@icddr.org
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
