Govt. silent on river pollution

Environmentalists are not wrong when they say that the rivers that feed Dhaka are dying. With relentless dumping of industrial effluents that are going into our rivers, we are suffering from a shortage of fresh water and dwindling of fish stocks; not to mention the serious health hazards posed to public health. The Shitalakkhya in Narayanganj for instance, now sports pitch black water thanks to continuous dumping of untreated chemical waste from factories and industrial units located on its banks despite there being anti-pollution laws. This has been going on for decades with authorities turning a blind eye to the practice while cases of hepatitis-A and E, typhoid are on the rise that eventually lead to liver failure.

It is interesting to note that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been mulling over a "green tax" to be imposed on polluting industries over the last few years. Yet, the system of paying this tax that was supposed to come into effect on July 1, 2014 doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. Indeed, according to media reports back in 2014, hundreds of polluting industries in Dhaka had been shortlisted; the whole thing apparently went on the backburner because it was thought, by some, that such a move would hurt our "export" prospects.

That is not the way to go about addressing an unfolding environmental and ecological disaster. A "green tax" would certainly wake up owners of polluting industries that they have to take responsibility for the environment. We hope that the government will take steps to safeguard public health and not merely count taxes collected from industry.