Dhaka should be dubbed ecologically critical area: HC

The High Court (HC) yesterday commented that Dhaka should be declared an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) to save the environment and protect the city from pollution. An HC bench, comprising Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah, came up with the comment during hearing on a contempt of court petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) against the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) for not taking steps to control and stop the underground drains and sewerage lines that have been polluting the Buriganga river.

Advocate Manzill Murshid, counsel for the HRPB, told reporters that although the HC has several times directed the government to take steps to protect the Buriganga from pollution to save the environment of the city, factories continue to carry out their businesses because of legal loopholes. In 2012, the HC directed WASA to provide a land for the industries to set up an effluent treatment plant (ETP). But WASA did not provide the land. Taking the opportunity, owners of factories carried on their work, resulting in immense suffering for the city dwellers due to the environment pollution, he added.

Citing the environment law, the lawyer said the government can declare Dhaka an ECA like Cox’s Bazar and the Sundarbans for the greater interest of protecting the capital city and its environment. In response to a query, Manzill said he would move the High Court after scrutinizing all documents and evidence of air pollution and environmental pollution of Dhaka. On January 20, the same bench of the HC directed the Department of Environment (DoE) to immediately shut down 231 industries in the Dhaka metropolitan area near the Buriganga.

The court asked WASA, Titas, and Dhaka Power Distributor Company (DPDC) to disconnect water, gas, and electricity supply to the illegal factories and to inform the DoE after complying with the order. The HC also directed the DoE to submit a report after complying with the directive to the court by February 20. The court further directed the DOE to submit a detailed report by the next three months on the factories and organisations in the Dhaka metropolitan area which have no environmental certificate.

Also, the HC ordered local administrations to stop dumping waste into the Buriganga and to submit a report to the court by February 20. The HC bench came up with the directives during hearing of a writ petition filed by the  HRPB, seeking order to save the Buriganga from pollution and occupation. DoE lawyer advocate Amatul Karim yesterday submitted a report to the HC bench, saying that the DoE has found that 231 industries near the Buriganga have no environmental clearance certificate.

On December 3 last year, the same bench of the HC directed the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to stop all but 68 underground drains and sewerage lines connected to the Buriganga. The HC also observed that WASA is the authority concerned to control and stop the 68 underground drains and sewerage lines that have been polluting the river. “These drains and sewerage lines have been polluting the Buriganga river. The pollution must be stopped. Dhaka city corporations are responsible for controlling the surface pipelines in the capital,” it stated.

The HC bench came up with the order after receiving a report by the BIWTA, which stated that there are 68 underground drains and sewerage lines connected to the Buriganga that are maintained by WASA. It directed the BIWTA to identify whether there are any other waste disposal lines connected to both the banks of the Buriganga in Dhaka, except for the 68 underground drains and sewerage lines, and to seal them off by January 7, 2020.

In its observation, the HC bench also said that WASA could not avoid the responsibility for polluting the Buriganga by running sewerage lines into it. The court asked WASA to stop the sewerage lines in the greater interest of the environment.

On November 17 last year, the court had ordered the Department of Environment (DoE) to shut down 27 dye factories and private hospitals without environmental clearance certificates located on the banks of the Buriganga.

In response to a writ petition, the same HC bench also issued a rule asking the managing director of WASA to explain within 15 days why legal action should not be taken against him for making false statements about sewerage lines connected to the river. The HRPB had filed the petition in the HC in 2011, seeking its directive.

Advocate Manzill Murshid, president of the HRPB, who filed the petition, told reporters that the HC had earlier sought reports from the DoE, BIWTA. and the MD of WASA about the structures built in Shyampur and Postogola areas on the banks of the Buriganga without obtaining environment clearance certificates. The HC bench is likely to deliver its order on the matter today (Thursday), Manzill said.