Man Made Disaster

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UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA

An Assignment on

Nature and Characteristic of Man-made Disaster in

Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Program : MS in Disaster Management

Course Title : Introduction to Natural Hazard and Disaster

Management

Course Code : 5111

Submitted to : Dr. AQM Mahbub

Professor

Department of Geography and Environment

University of Dhaka

Submitted by : Misuk Kumer Datta

Class roll : 524

Date of Submission : 30.03.2013

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Introduction

The Bangladesh is low laying alluvial deltaic plan lies between 20034' and 26

038' North

Latitude and 88001' and 92

041' East Longitude with a total landmass of 1,47,570 square

kilometers (56,977 Sq. miles). Bangladesh is surrounded by India on the West, North and

Northeast, Myanmar on the Southeast and the Bay of Bengal on the South. The countries

unique geographic location, with the Bay of Bengal to the south, the Himalayas to the North

and the prevailing monsoons, has made it one of the wettest countries of the world. The

mean annual rainfall is about 2320mm, but there are places with a mean annual rainfall of

6000mm or more (Hossain et al., 1987). The country is formed by the fluvial process of three

major river systems namely the Ganges, the Bramhaputra and the Meghna. More than 220

rivers crisscrossed the country and make it reiverine. Total number of 57 rivers including

GBM is known as Transboundary river. Bangladesh is based on Agriculture mainly, with two

thirds of the population engaged directly and indirectly on Agricultural activities; although

the country is trying move towards industrialization slowly during the last one and a half

decade almost.

Due to its geographical location the country is more vulnerable in natural disaster. The

country is experiencing different type of natural disaster in every year. Among the entire

natural disaster cyclone, tornado, storm surge, drought and flood are mentionable. The

country is also vulnerable in manmade hazard like fire, water logging, groundwater

depletion, river pollution, air pollution, environmental degradation, solid waste disposal and

traffic congestion etc. In every year disaster causes widespread human, material or

environmental losses which increase poverty of the country. A study represent that poor

are more vulnerable in a natural disaster and poor become poorer due to effect of a

disaster.

Dhaka formerly spelled Dacca is the capital of the Bangladesh. It is a megacity and one of

the major cities of South Asia. It is located on the banks of the river Buriganga and lies

between 23053’ and 24

006’ north latitudes and between 90

001' and 90

037' east longitudes.

Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, has an estimated population of over 12 million in

2008, making it the largest city in Bangladesh. It is

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the 9th largest city in the world and also 28th among the most densely populated cities in

Figure: Dhaka City Map

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the world. It is predicted that the population

of Dhaka city would reach 22 million in 2015

(Islam, 2001), when it will become the second

most populous city in Asia. Internal migration

has caused a surge in residential demand in

Dhaka city. Due to rapid urbanization process,

the city is emerging as a mega-city and this

trend generates numerous economic and

social externalities and social cost such as

deterioration of environmental quality, increased

pollution and congestion. Dhaka city is beset with

a number of socio-environmental problems.

Water logging, traffic congestion, solid waste

disposal, black smoke from vehicular and

industrial emissions, air and noise pollution,

pollution of water bodies by industrial discharge,

all these are the regular problem of the city.

Objective

Objectives of this assignment are:

� Find out different type of manmade disaster in Dhaka city.

� Find out causes of different types of manmade disaster.

� Describe nature and effect of manmade disaster on city dweller.

� Describe effect of manmade disaster on country economy.

� Recommending mitigation measure for reducing effect of manmade disaster.

Photo: Dhaka in 2013 (Panthapath)

Photo: Dhaka in 1908

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Manmade Disaster in Dhaka City:

A natural hazard has an element of human

involvement. A physical event, such as a

flood, that does not affect human beings is

a natural phenomenon but not a natural

hazard. A natural phenomenon that occurs

in a populated area is a hazardous event. A

hazardous event that causes unacceptably

large numbers of fatalities and/or overwhelming property damage is a natural disaster. In

areas where there are no human interests, natural phenomena do not constitute hazards

nor do they result in disasters. Human intervention can increase the frequency and severity

of natural hazards. Hazard is two types one is Human-made hazards (also called

anthropogenic hazards) are distinguishable from environmental hazards by the direct level

of human involvement in their causation. Another one hazard is Environmental or Natural

Hazards/Disasters generally refers to geophysical events such as earthquakes, volcanoes,

drought, flooding, cyclone, lightening etc.

Due to rapid urbanization process and huge population the Dhaka city is generating

numerous economic and social externalities and social cost such as deterioration of

environmental quality, increased pollution and congestion. Unplanned settlements are

causing manmade disaster. Unplanned settlement is also causing fire hazard. In every year

fire damage our life and property. People are filling low land illegally which reduced natural

reservoir and causing water logging. On the other hand unplanned way of solid waste

management is a reason for air pollution. Solid waste is also contributing in river pollution.

Disposal of untreated waste from different industry is also contributing in river pollution as

well as environmental degradation. In a planned city it is necessary to reserved 25% space

for road but the Dhaka has only 5-6% space which causing traffic congestion. The Dhaka city

is experiencing different types of manmade disaster. Among entire manmade disaster water

logging, urban fire, river pollution, ground water depletion, air pollution, solid waste

management, building collapse and traffic congestion are mentionable.

Manmade Hazard

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Nature and Characteristic of Manmade Disaster in Dhaka City:

Water logging:

The Dhaka, capital city

of Bangladesh has

become one of the

populous Mega City in

the world, in recent

years facing extensive

water logging during

the monsoon (May to

October). Unplanned

spatial development

activities and growth of habitation due to rapid population growth are causing

encroachment on retention areas and natural drainage paths with little or no care of natural

drainage system. Excessive rainfall, inadequate drainage sections, conventional drainage

system with low capacity and gravity, natural siltation, absence of inlets and outlets,

indefinite drainage outlets, lack of proper maintenance of existing drainage system, and

over and above disposal of solid waste into the drains and drainage paths are accounted for

the prime causes of blockage in drainage system and water logging. In addition, seasonal

tidal effect and the

topography of the

city area also

causing water

logging.

Photo: Water logging in Chankharpul area (Source: Daily New Age 09.08.12)

Photo: Water logging in Chankharpul area (Source: news.priyo.com 20.08.12)

Photo: Water logging in Mirpur area (Source: news.priyo.com 19.06.12)

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• Reason behind water logging:

In the eve of urbanization of the Dhaka city, storm water is drain out on the river through

different canal. The city has many canals which was interlink with each other and also has

navigability. The mentionable canal of the Dhaka city was Dhanmondi lake, Ramna lake,

Crescent lake, Gulshan lake, Dholaikhal khal, Gerani khal, Segunbagicha khal, Panthapath

khal, Begunbari khal, Ramchandrapur khal, Katasur khal, Kallyanpur khal, Rupnagar khal and

many other branches of above canal. The DWASA and DCC were unwisely filling

segunbagicha, Panthapath and Dholaikhal respectively by covered box culvert. Due to

construction fault, it is difficult to properly cleaning of these box culverts. As a result huge

sediment is deposited in culvert bed and causes water logging in vast area of Motijheel,

Ramna, Dhanmondi and Sutrapur thana jurisdiction. Others khal are illegally filled by land

grabber in partly or entirely and reducing natural flow, resulting water logging in vast area.

Inefficient waste management is another reason for water logging. Polythene and others

floating materials are making

obstruction in catch pits and enter into

storm sewer line, which causing

block in sewer as a result water

logging in surface. On the other hand

polythene and floating materials are

also deposited on peripheral

rivers of the city and causing river

pollution. The Dhaka city drainage

systems are construction and maintenance by

different organization of Dhaka City Corporation

(DCC) and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage

Authority (DWASA). According to Drainage Act of

the Dhaka city the DCC is responsible for

construction and maintenance of tertiary drainage

line and DWASA is responsible for construction and

maintenance of primary and secondary drainage

Photo: Floating materials are blocking drainage line

Photo: Tertiary drainage line of DCC

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line. From tertiary drainage line storm sewage enters into secondary line then primary line

and finally river. But it is find out that in many cases the DCC is not maintaining proper level

for constructing drainage line. So tertiary lines are filled by sediment after few years and

storm water cannot enter in secondary line causing water logging in vast area. Lack of

coordination of DCC and DWASA is another reason for water logging.

Urban Fire:

Occurrence of fire incidences is a common phenomenon in Dhaka city, particularly in dry

season. Fire break out in slums, garment factories and small manufacturing industries are

regular news item during the season. Fire break outs cause loss of numerous lives and

valuable properties in the city. With the increase of industrial establishments, mainly small

industries, the number of fire incidences is increasing rapidly. Dhaka City has been

experiencing high rate of urbanization since the last few decades. The development trend of

Dhaka is deliberately shifting vertical direction to cope with the extensive population

pressure. Nowadays, high rise buildings are being constructed in every parts of the city but

in most cases the dwellings are being constructed without maintaining the planning rules

and regulations. Fire hazard vulnerability of Dhaka City dwellers has been increased due to

reckless building construction and non-conformation of Fire Protection Act, 2003. Dhaka

City has been experiencing many fire accidents at present and in most cases lack of proper

precautionary measures along with the institutional inefficiency, insufficient equipment

support and lack of public awareness are causing this situation more complex. Existing

planning rules and laws are also insufficient to the present context of Dhaka City. As most of

the dwellers do not know how to use the fire fighting equipments, in most cases all the

precautionary measures for combating fire generally go into vein. Therefore, institutional

reform, strengthening of capacity at individual and institutional level is needed in order to

reduce fire hazard risks of Dhaka City.

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• Reason behind Urban Fire:

Soon after the liberation war, Dhaka City faced a rapid boom of urbanization. The city not

only expanded in terms of physical dimension but also population and structural density

increased very rapidly. Dhaka, the most densely populated city in the world with a

population of about 15 million in an area of 1528 sq km, is one of the vulnerable places

where fire outbreaks are very common. The development trend of the city took place in a

haphazard and unplanned manner with little or no attention to the issue of land use and

structural planning which leads to increase occurrence of fire hazard nowadays. Increase in

population has a subsequent linkage with more frequent urban conflagrations. Although

other forms of hazards, like cyclone and floods, have overshadowed threat from fire hazard,

fires do cause considerable damages of the country. Official records from the BFSCDA show

that the number of fire incidents in the Dhaka metropolitan: 2006 (1220 times), 2007

(1100), 2008 (1110), 2009 (1775), 2010 (2068) and 2011 up to March (638). There are many

minor incidences which are not reported (BFSCD, 2008).

In Old Dhaka, there is not a single building

available with fire fighting equipments.

Almost 60% of the buildings have no

planning permission from RAJUK and neither

any permission of fire safety and about 92%

of the buildings located beside the minor

roads have no fire license. The buildings of

Shakahari Bazar, Boxibazar, Chawak Bazar

have found intermixing of uses as the ground floor is using for the storage of various

materials or shopping and the upper floors are for living. In most cases, in the ground floor,

flammable materials like clothing, fiber, plastic equipments are found to be conserved. The

electric wiring and gas connections in the residential buildings of Old Dhaka are in great

threat for the occurrence of fire accidents in any time.

On the other hand in new Dhaka, the apartment dwellers are unconscious regarding the

standard of electric equipments used in the building. Many building have fire fighting

equipments, but the dwellers are not aware about the use of those equipments. Many

Photo: Fire incidence in Nimtali, Dhaka

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people have no mental preparedness and

precaution against any fire incidence. Almost 95%

people do not know how to use fire extinguisher

and other fire fighting equipments. In slum area

main reason of fire hazard is electric short circuit,

electric or gas or traditional stove and smoking.

Slum area is more vulnerable in fire hazard due to

high density of people.

The main reason of fire hazard is lack of awareness

of the people. The Bashundhara shopping mall is a modern building in the Dhaka and well

equipped with fire fighting system but due to lack of operational knowledge of firefighting

equipment the building is highly damage by fire. In old Dhaka area road are very narrow and

have not source of huge amount

of water so fire service team

cannot work properly causing

widespread damage. In slum

area population density is higher

than other area. All the slum

dweller is low payee and has not

proper knowledge about fire

safety. So they cannot take

safety measure and seriously affected by fire.

The RAJUK and BFSCD have few numbers of personnel for monitoring building construction

work so, they cannot monitor construction work properly consequently people are violating

firefighting rule.

Only public awareness can avoid many incidences of fire destruction and loss of lives.

Electric short circuit and spread of fire from the burner are the major causes for fire hazards

in Dhaka City. Lack of maintenance of the equipments for a long time generally causes the

electric short circuit. Awareness at the individual public level could prevent the occurrence

of such fire incidence.

Photo: Fire incidence in Agargaon Slum on 20.02.13

Photo: Fire incidence at Basundhara shopping

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River Pollution:

The river Turag, Balu and Shitalakhya are situated in the periphery of Dhaka City. At present

these are the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh. Dhaka City is very densely populated and

will be one of the ten “Mega Cities” in the near future. The amount of untreated wastes,

both domestic and industrial, being released into the rivers is tremendous and is increasing

day by day causing river pollution.

• Reason behind river pollution:

Main reason of the river pollution is indiscriminate disposal of untreated industrial effluents,

municipal and domestic waste and sewage to the river. Another reason of the river pollution

is the DWASA have not any storm sewage treatment plant. The authority is disposing storm

sewage to the river without treatment. On the other hand only 30% of the Dhaka city area

has sewerage coverage. Many people live in without sewerage coverage areas are not made

septic tank during building construction. They dispose sanitary sewage directly in storm

sewage line and ultimately this sewage is deposited in river which is a major cause of river

pollution. More than 300 outfalls are found which disposing industrial and domestic waste

water directly to the river without

treatment. Poor people made slum on

the canal and depositing solid and liquid

waste directly to the canal as well as

river.

Unabated pollution, encroachment and

fill up of canals, lakes, water bodies and

Photo: Waste is disposing to the river Buriganga by DWASA (Source Dhaka Mirror11.01.10)

Photo: Chemical jar are washing in river near Buriganga 2nd

Bridge

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wetlands by the land grabbers and industries are

also responsible for river pollution. In Mitford

area chemical seller are washed empty chemical

drum in the river Buriganga. Water bound

vehicle is disposing burn oil in the river which

adding a feather on river pollution.

Ground Water Depletion:

Access to water is a basic human

right and it is a crosscutting issue

for sustainable development.

Water resources have unlimited

importance including human

survival, socio-economic stability

and environmental sustainability.

“Water is right or economic good”

has been a matter of discourse since industrial revolution in the Eighteenth century. Dhaka

city dwellers, following an unsystematic urban sprawl, are deprived of basic urban amenities

where water supply has appeared as the most critical issue. Water supply of Dhaka city is

heavily dependent on groundwater extraction where more than 87 percent of the supplied

water is being extracted from this source. Such extensive dependency enhances a very high

depletion rate of groundwater table. Dhaka city has been experiencing a sharp declination in

groundwater table with more than 20 meters lower down during the last seven years at a

rate of 2.81 meter per year (m/y) (Baten, A.M. etal. 2011). Considering the existing

depletion rate, the study predicts that the groundwater table will go down to 120 meters by

2050. A study shows that the potential groundwater recharge of Dhaka city is only 1.33 m/y

in contrast to 2.81 m/y of groundwater depletion rate. Such finding implies that despite

sufficient amount of rainfall, Dhaka city is experiencing 1.48 m/y groundwater recharge

Figure: Groundwater hydrograph of seven observation wells of Dhaka city from

1986 to 2005 (Source: Science Alert)

Photo: Slum on canal

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deficit every year. Moreover, increased rate of urbanization, illegal occupation, and

encroachment reduce the amount and volume of surface water bodies around the city that

deteriorate the present situation.

• Reason behind Ground Water Depletion:

According to the official, total water

demand of the Dhaka city is 2250 MLD and

the DWASA can meet up 2110 MLD against

the city’s total demand. It has been

mentioned earlier that, DWASA supply is

only 13% from surface water and rest 87%

of water extracting from underground

through about 600 nos deep tube well.

Compared to the exploitation of

groundwater, recharge to aquifer is very

negligible as the geological settings and

urbanization has retarded both the vertical

and horizontal recharges. Consequently,

groundwater table is continuously

declining at an average rate of 2 m/year

since, 1986. Continuous groundwater

mining has caused the dry season water table to move downward from -54 to -45 m depth

from the mean sea level. The severe decline of groundwater level was observed in the

central part of the city, compare to the river periphery, creating a cone of depression. If this

falling trend of the groundwater level continues that might create an increased pressure on

water storage and may invite land subsidence or other environmental hazards.

Now a day’s it is common practice to cover ground surface by concrete or clay tiles, which

reduce scope of infiltration. U-shape RCC channel has been constructed by DWASA on the

different canal. It also reduces scope of infiltration of canal water to ground. This RCC

channel might be being catastrophic effect on ground water recharge and water logging

removal as like covered box culvert.

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So, the aquifer requires sustainable management to protect future water quality and to

ensure that the resource can continue to meet the quantitative demands being placed upon

it.

Air Pollution:

Air pollution is one of the major

environmental problems now days,

especially for developing countries

such as Bangladesh and Brickfields

have been identified as a vital

pollutant source of the major cities of

the country. Verification of the

applicability of an effective air quality

model in Bangladesh condition,

especially for brickfield pollution was

the main concern of this work.

• Reason Behind Air Pollution:

Air pollution is one of the major manmade

environmental problems that have recently

gained importance among environmental

issues in Bangladesh. Exposure to air

pollution is the main environmental threat

to human health in towns and cities.

Numerous brick-making kilns operating in

the dry season are one of the major sources

of air pollution in cities. Air quality of Dhaka

city is severely affected by the pollutants from hundreds of brickfields located at the entry

points into the Dhaka city: Amin Bazar, Keraniganj, Fatulla, Pagla, Tongi, Ashulia. These kilns

produce bricks using an old conventional process. Every year more than 20 lakh metric tons

Photo: A Brick field at Aminbazar, Savar, Dhaka

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of low quality coal and 20 lakh metric tons of wood are burnt in these brick fields along with

tires and rubber. Only few fields use natural gas where it is available. The pollution is caused

by the poor quality of fuel, improper design of chimneys and combustion chamber.

Pollutants such as oxides of carbon, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic

compounds and particulates are produced from the brickfields. Moreover even under well-

controlled processes worldwide, 0.2 microgram toxic equivalents of dioxins and furans are

emitted as byproduct into the air during the production of each ton of brick, which is very

harmful for lives. Brickfields also cause crop loss, corrosion of metallic objects and loss of

soil fertility. Brickfields are one of the major sources of air pollution in Dhaka city. Recently

this issue is being taken into consideration seriously. As brickfields are operated during the

dry season, it is clear that brickfields have large contribution to the air pollution.

Air is also polluted from emission of industry. Many industries are established in Dhaka city and

periphery of Dhaka city. All the industries emitted harmful gaseous content to the air.

Hazaribagh tannery industries are in Dhaka city which polluted air, water and soil. Tanneries

waste is used for preparing poultry through drying, burning and adding another chemical. Toxic

substances are entering on poultry from tannery waste and subsequently in human body which

may causes for cancer

and any other disease.

Drying and burning of

tannery waste is another

causes of air pollution.

Black smoke emissions

from vehicle, soil dust,

vehicle rubber tire dust

etc. are potential source

of air pollution.

Photo Source: The Daily Star 26.02.13

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Solid Waste Management:

As urbanization and

economic progress

increases consumption of

resources also tend to

increase in the same

rate. This leads to

immense negative

impact on environment

in the sense of

generation of waste by

the urban. Solid waste

generation and its impact is the most troublesome now a day’s Dhaka city, the capital of

Bangladesh, with huge population within its city area of 360 sq. In addition to this about one

million commuters visit the city everyday in search of their livelihood. The population of Dhaka

city has increased rapidly, with a growth rate of 3.72% per year. In Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)

area 60% houses are of low income, 37% middle income and the rest 3% constitutes high-

income houses. The old part of Dhaka is more densely populated than the new part of Dhaka.

The heavy inflow of population put strain on the city services including solid waste

management. The city generates about 3,500 tons of solid waste each day (Enayetullah, 1995).

Of which 3000 tons considered to be household waste. The municipality collects only half of the

solid waste. The waste that is not collected by municipality is left on, to rot in the heat and

humidity of the city’s air. The resulting stenches, rodents clogged drains and pose a serious

health problem to city’s inhabitant. It is management that should given emphasis from the root

level of waste generation. Information about physical and chemical properties of solid waste is

important in evaluating equipment needs, systems and management programs and plans,

especially with respect to the implementation of disposal and resource and energy recovery

options. Characterization of waste is also important to determine its possible environmental

impacts. The waste components, although vary widely with the location and season of the year,

include food wastes, paper, plastic, cloths, metal, glass, construction materials and others (DCC

1999).

As mentioned earlier household waste contributes most of the solid waste, so it should be

manage properly. There are serious problems with the disposal of household rubbish. The local

Photo: Poor women are sorting recyclable things from household waste

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authority regards refuse

collection as a low priority. The

collections made by the large

trucks of Dhaka City Corporation

are restricted to the main roads

because they are unable to

maneuver in the narrower

streets. As a result piles of waste

sometimes left for months,

before it is cleared away.

Traffic Congestion:

Traffic congestion in

cities is a global

problem, and has been

addressed mainly in

two different ways: by

creating more space

and infrastructure for

cars while banning

other vehicles, and by

reducing the space and

infrastructure for cars

while improving the

situation for walking, cycling and public transit. Several steps have been undertaken to reduce

traffic congestion in Dhaka city, such as imposing restriction on the entrance of trucks in Dhaka

during daytime, banning of cycle rickshaws in different roads, changing the time table of the

trains, changing the lanes of public transport, construction of foot over bridges rather than

zebra crossings, construction of flyovers, and so on. In addition, a traffic signal system was

introduced, investing a huge amount of money. Though buses, trucks, rickshaws, trains and

Photo: Transportation of household waste

Photo Source: The Daily Star 26.02.13

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pedestrians have all been blamed for the congestion in Dhaka, after imposing restrictions on

them the congestion level did not reduce.

• Reason behind Traffic Congestion:

City lay-out (master plan) and over-population: The causes of traffic congestion in Dhaka

city are multifarious. Starting from the city itself, it is observed that the skeleton, structure

and lay-out of Dhaka City are not well-planned and well-directed. Dhaka is also a highly

populated city. More than one crore people live here and the figure is increasing day by day.

This huge population acts as an auto-catalyst of traffic congestion in Dhaka City.

Inadequate and unplanned roads: Dhaka City has very inadequate road networks. For a

standard city, where the minimum road requirement is 25%, Dhaka has only 7.5% road of its

total area. 30% of this

7.5% road is also

occupied by the

hawkers, salesman and

shopkeepers. A

significant portion is

occupied by

construction materials

and waste-containers

of the City

Corporation. As a

result, vehicles do not

get sufficient space to

move on. Besides this,

in most cases roads are

serpentine rather than

being straight.

This ultimately breeds a number of unnecessary junctions where vehicles automatically slow

down. Again, these roads are also not well constructed and regularly repaired. City

Corporation, DESA, WASA, BTTB excavate the roads randomly without any integrated and

central plan. Lack of proper maintenance causes the vehicle to stop without any prior

notice. During the rainy season the situation becomes more critical while the roads go under

water due to heavy rain.

Photo: DCC waste container on road

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Heterogeneous vehicles and inadequate public transport: Dhaka is a city of heterogeneous

vehicles. Human puller to latest model automobile, mechanical to non-mechanical, slow to

fast-moving, nothing left on the

road of Dhaka. It is quite difficult to

control all these vehicles on the

same road as they have different

speed capacity. Besides this, public

transport system in Dhaka city is not

adequate and properly-routed.

Instead of big and spacious buses,

presence of large number of mini-

buses and private vehicles can only

contribute to carry few passengers,

but not to reduction of traffic

congestion.

Rail crossing: Every day we are

experiencing movement of 74 trains

to and from Dhaka. On an average,

it takes five minutes to get the

clearance for each crossing. Thus

every day in a single crossing, the

vehicles stop for six hours that is

really difficult to offset.

Insufficient parking arrangement

and road blockage: Limited parking

arrangement is another major

cause of excessive traffic in Dhaka

City. It has become a regular

practice to park the car on road.

Even during rush hours, people are

seen loading and unloading their

vehicles on a busy road. City

transports also stop here and there

without any valid reason. The three

major bus stations, Sayedabad,

Photo: Heterogeneous vehicles on city road (bdnews24.com 13.04.11)

Photo: Parking on Murpur road

Photo: Malibagh rail crossing

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Gabtoli and Mohakhali do not have sufficient capacity to accommodate all the buses

operating from here. A recent addition to road blockage is the long queue of vehicles at CNG

stations, which is really difficult to overcome.

Recommendation:

For removing water logging from Dhaka city following measure should be taken:

• Assigning task to a single authority for construction and operating drainage work.

• Following Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for any development work.

• Strictly prohibit to filling flood flow zone.

• Strictly prohibit of polythene use.

• Preparing a drainage master plan.

• Strictly follow Drainage Act of Dhaka city.

• Maintaining natural drainage system.

Following initiative should be taken for reducing fire hazard:

• Strictly following Bangladesh National Building Code for all type of development work.

• Strengthening capacity of the BFSCD.

• Strictly monitoring development work.

• Awareness builds up through training and practice.

• Conducting mock drill.

Following initiative should be taken for avoiding river pollution:

• To construct treatment plan in all outlet of DWASA storm sewerage line.

• To construct septic tank with soak well in all house and disconnecting sanitary sewer

line from storm sewer line.

• Preparing sewerage master plan.

• Developing effective solid waste management plan.

• Shifting garbage station from the embankment of the river Buriganga.

• Restore necessary ecological process of the river Buriganga.

• Avoiding burn oil disposal and washing empty chemical jar.

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Following initiative should be taken for reducing groundwater deletion:

• Reducing dependency on groundwater and developing surface water treatment

plant and distribution system.

• Stopping all type of RCC surface covered development work.

• Avoiding surface wrapping by concrete or clay tiles.

• To take effective measure for recharging groundwater table.

To reducing air pollution following action may adapt:

• Strictly follow rule of Department of Environment, Bangladesh for establishing brick field

• Reducing black smoke and chemical emission from different industries and vehicle.

• Shifting tannery from Hazaribagh to tannery estate at Savar as soon as possible.

Following step of action may be adapted for effective waste management:

• Developing integrated plan for waste management

• Using different basket at household level for separating recyclable and non recyclable

waste.

• Strictly prohibit uses of polythene.

• Using covered container for transporting solid waste.

Following step of action may be for reducing traffic congestion:

• Avoiding heterogeneous traffic system.

• Avoiding parking on road.

• Dividing lane for different speeded traffic.

• Evict hawker from footpath.

• Removing speed breaker from road.

• Repairing road periodically.

• Obey traffic rule in all cases.

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Conclusion:

In last century the Dhaka city was most beautiful and habitable place for living. At present

the Dhaka is losing its beauty. Population pressure increased in Dhaka city day by day. Huge

population causes pressure on existing utility facility and environmental regenerate

capacity. It is not possible to increase utility service in overnight to meet up demand. Lack of

proper utility facilities and increasing population pressure causes manmade hazard as well

as manmade disaster in Dhaka city.

This study is conducted over the basis of almost secondary data and this is not focused all

over scenario of the problem. We should conduct much more study to realize this problem

as a first concern issue and take the major steps to prevent this problem for making

habitable and environment friendly city life.

24 | P a g e

Reference:

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Performance and Challenge, Dhaka: Dhaka WASA.

The New Age (2010) “Report on Downpour strain city life”, August, 09.

Paul, R. and Haq, A. (2010) “Challenges of Water Quality Management: Case of Peripheral

rivers in Dhaka Mega City”, Proceeding of International conference on World Water Week,

Stockholm, 05-11 September.

Baten, A. M. et al. (2011) WATER SUPPLY OF DHAKA CITY: MURKY FUTURE, Dhaka: Unnayan

Onneshan.

Government of Bangladesh (2011) Population and Housing Census 2011, Dhaka: BBS.

Alom, B. J. M. etal. “Fire hazard categorization and risk assessment for Dhaka city in GIS

framework”, Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), vol.32(1), December 2013.

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BRICKFIELDS IN BANGLADESH”, Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin, vol.13, Jan 2008.

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