When it comes to reducing air pollution, the government seems to be backtracking on its decisions.

The government’s emission standards for coal-fired power plants are far lower than those of the countries investing in such plants in Bangladesh.

The High Court today asked the director general (DG) of Department of Environment (DoE) and deputy commissioners (DCs) of Dhaka and four other surrounding districts – Gazipur, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Munshiganj – to appear before it on May 17 and explain why illegal brick kilns were not shut down despite its repeated directives.

The High Court (HC) has directed Department of Environment (DoE) to shut 27 dying factories and private hospitals, which have no environmental clearance certificates, near Shyampur and Postogola on the bank of Buriganga river in 15 days.

The Surma river in Sylhet is on the verge of becoming another Buriganga, environmentalists fear.

Brick kilns are the top air polluter in seven major cities in the country, particularly during dry season when most bricks are made, turning the air quality of these metropolises “severely unhealthy”.

The Halda River, which meanders through south east Bangladesh, is famous for being perhaps the only place in Southeast Asia where the pure Indian carp naturally occurs.

The Department of Environment yesterday filed a case against the vice-chancellor, the registrar and a dean of Chittagong Veterinary

AT least 67 percent of the country's 8,500 brick kilns are running without the permission of the Department of Environment, according to the environment group, Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba). Of these, more than 1,900 kilns use wood to burn bricks, a practice which is a punishable offence as per our environmental laws. These statistics are highly alarming, given that unauthorised brick kilns are responsible for causing irreversible damage to the environment and posing serious health hazards to people working and living in nearby areas.