Live Correspondent: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today asked development planners to revise some typical concepts to save the environment particularly the water bodies as she opened the World Environment Day celebrations in Bangladesh.
“Take development projects keeping in the mind about its consequences on environment,” she said inaugurating the celebrations that also coincide with the National Tree Fair-2019, Environment Fair-2019 and Tree Plantation Campaign at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) here.
The premier particularly asked infrastructures planners to discard ideas like filling up canals and ponds coming out of their traditional mindset like constructing box culverts disrupting natural water flows on canals.
The premier said the country must strike a balance between its development
spree and environmental conservation saying the development activities would
go on but protection of environment would have to be ensured as well.
Sheikh Hasina said her government took very effective steps to reduce pollution alongside addressing adverse impact of the climate change through tree plantation and creating forest covers.
Referring to various measures in protecting the Surdarbans, the Prime Minister categorically said, her government always puts especial importance on maintaining ecological and natural balance of the world’s largest mangrove forest in the southwestern region.
Sheikh Hasina said, her government has taken various steps to preserve bio- diversity in the country alongside natural resources through sustainable management in parts of the country.
In the programme, the premier handed over National Environment Award-2019,
Bangabandhu Award for Wildlife Conservation-2019″ among those who contributed
to environmental and wildlife conservations in their respective areas and
distributed “Prime Minister’s National Award-2018” among organisations and
individuals in different categories for their contribution to tree plantation
campaign.
“People are damaging environment in many ways for living a comfortable life,” she said, urging the researchers to come forward with new innovation to stamp out the man-made pollution alongside planting trees.
Mentioning that the air is being polluted due to irresponsible behaviour of the people, the premier said, “Forty-two lakh people died every year as a result of exposure to outdoor air pollution while 38 lakh for exposure to household smoke from dirty cook stoves or fuels according to WHO.”
To control air pollution, the government has enacted the “Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act 2013” which was amended in 2018, she said. Mobile courts are now being operated in Dhaka and other big cities to control the black smoke of vehicle, she added.
The government has adopted country investment plan-CIP 2016-2021 to take sustainable development projects to face the adverse impact of climate change, she said.
About social forest programme, the premier said, social forestation has been created involving poor communities residing beside the forests and 75 percent profit is now being given to the people who are taking care of the trees planted on the government land while the rest 25 percent is being deposited to the public exchequer.
As many as 6,78,601 people are getting benefits from the social forestation, of whom 1,28,467 are women and 1,68,564 are men and Taka 356,82,34,522 has been distributed among the beneficiaries., the premier added.
“I, that mean Bangladesh, have achieved ‘Champion of the Earth’ award in 2015 in recognition to the measures taken to face successfully the adverse impacts of climate change,” she said.
Dhaka 20 June (campuslive24.com)//AZ
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