Lakes, canals becoming breeding hubs of mosquitoes instead of fish: DNCC mayor

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Md. Atiqul Islam has said lakes and canals in Dhaka have become the breeding hubs of mosquitoes instead of fish.

The mayor said, “Untreated sewage waste from residential buildings is polluting lakes and water bodies in the city and contributing to the growth of mosquitoes and creating other environmental and health hazards.”

“As a result, there is an urgent need for treating such polluted waters before releasing them to the environment,” the DNCC mayor said at a dialogue on Monday as the chief guest.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) arranged the dialogue on ‘Greening Cities through Reducing Air and Plastic Pollution' in the city.

The DNCC mayor urged the owners of the city’s residential buildings to install cost-effective sewage treatment plants (STPs) available in the market.

The mayor said he already wrote to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) authority to install treatment plants in residential buildings to treat household sewage waste before releasing it into the environment.   

In response to the high-level air pollution in the city, the mayor said his office has been trying to manage the school management body to introduce school buses to avoid unnecessary air pollution caused by the vehicles.

Meanwhile, we will have to stop the use of the conventional brick kilns and introduce cement and concrete blocks as the brick kilns have been the top source of air pollution across the country, he added.

To address uncontrolled plastic bag use and pollution, he urged scientists and researchers to invent a cheap alternative of polythene bags to replace polythene bags.

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