Release of untreated sewage waste from residential buildings is polluting lakes and other water bodies in the city, thus contributing to growth of mosquitoes and creating other environmental and health hazards.
As a result, there is an urgent need for treating the waste before releasing it to the environment.
This was observed by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md. Atiqul Islam, who spoke as the chief guest of a dialogue - "Greening Cities through Reducing Air and Plastic Pollution" - organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in the city on Monday.
Polluted city lakes and canals have become the breeding hubs of mosquitoes, he also said.
"We have tried, but failed to culture fishes in Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara lakes because of the high-level contamination of sewage waste in the water. Residential buildings in the city's posh areas are doing it."
He urged the city's residential building owners to install cost-effective sewage treatment plants (STPs) available in the market. The DNCC mayor said he had already written to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) to install plants in residential buildings to treat the household sewage waste before releasing it to the environment.
Regarding the high-level air pollution in the city, Mr Islam noted that his office is trying to manage the school management bodies to introduce school buses to avoid unnecessary air pollution caused by personal vehicles.
"Besides, we will have to stop the use of the conventional brick kilns and introduce cement and concrete blocks, as the brick kilns have long been the top source of air pollution across the country." To address the uncontrolled plastic bag use and pollution, he urged the scientists and researchers to invent cheap alternatives to replace polythene bags.
Md. Jashim Uddin, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), claimed in the event that the country's industries are not responsible for the air pollution.
Conventional brick kilns are responsible for up to 58 per cent of the total air pollution in Dhaka.
"The government should reduce the existing high import duty on stone, as Bangladesh mostly relies on imported stone. Stone and concrete block are so costly that people are not getting interested to use those at huge cost."
The FBCCI president urged the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to allow registration of electric cars to reduce air pollution. He criticised the regulatory body for suspending registration of electric vehicles in the country.
He also emphasised proper monitoring and management mechanism of plastic goods instead of banning those.
Dr Dibalok Singha, Executive Director of the Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK), in his presentation said Dhaka city generates some 47,000 kg solid waste every day and 55 per cent of it is organic and 15 per cent is plastic. Some 37 per cent of all the solid waste is recyclable.
He emphasised waste source segregation and increasing budget for waste management. The DNCC announced a Tk 50-billion budget last year, of which only Tk 4.0 billion was allocated for waste management.
"It means only Tk 190 was allocated per person for waste management in the DNCC, which was insufficient," he added.
Zaved Akhtar, CEO and Managing Director of the Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, said they initiated a mechanism to gradually reduce the use of plastic.
However, the consumers' behavior remains a major challenge for bringing the change, he observed.
CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun chaired the event.
The CPD has undertaken the research study - "Green Cities Initiative" - that aims to understand the relationship between air pollution and the economy of Bangladesh, she noted.
Syed Yusuf Saadat, Research Fellow of the CPD, made the keynote presentation.
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