Serious pollution threat : Toxic sludge waste being dumped on side of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway
Zakir Azad, Cumilla
Toxic sludge waste being dumped on the side of Dhaka-Chittagong highway A mobile court has fined Sigma Ecotech Limited, the company operating the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) of Cumilla EPZ, Tk 4 lakh for air and environmental pollution by dumping toxic sludge waste from factories along the Dhaka-Chittagong Gighway.
On Wednesday ,Sigma Ecotech Limited was fined for air and environmental pollution by dumping toxic sludge waste in the Haratoli area of Cumilla Sadar South on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Executive Magistrate and Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Sadar South Upazila Syed Refai Abid. Syed Refai Abid, conducting a mobile court, said that a fine of Tk 4 lakh has been imposed on a company named Sigma Ecotech Limited on charges of environmental pollution in a joint operation of the Cumilla Sadar South Upazila Administration and the Department of Environment. At the same time, the company has also been ordered to remove waste from the side of the highway immediately.
Evidence of environmental pollution by dumping sludge waste was found against Sigma Ecotech Limited, a company under the Central ETP of Cumilla EPZ, in the Howratoli area of the highway. In this incident, the company was fined Tk 4 lakh for violating Section 6(c) of the Air Pollution (Control) Rules-2022 and the Environment Protection Act 1995 (amended 2010). It has also been ordered to remove the polluting waste immediately.
Toxic sludge waste being dumped in the Haratoli area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
Toxic sludge waste being dumped in the Haratoli area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
Cumilla Environment Department Inspector Chandan Biswas was in charge of the prosecution during the operation. Assistant Director Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, Senior Chemist Md. Raihan Morshed and Inspector Jobair Hossain were present at the time. The upazila police administration also provided overall cooperation.
Meanwhile, when you go to the Haratoli area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, you can smell a strong stench from afar. Rows of piles of garbage can be seen along the Dhaka-bound lane of the highway. It seems that the side of the highway has become a garbage dump.
Not only in the Haratoli area, such undeclared dumps have been established in several places on the Comilla section of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
The Comilla district covers an area of about 100 kilometers of the highway. At least 20 of these places are dumping garbage in the same way. In some places, local government organizations like city corporations and municipalities are dumping their collected garbage on the side of the highway. As a result, piles of garbage are increasing day by day at various places along the highway, and the highway is turning into a garbage dump. Environmentalists have expressed concern over the increase in environmental pollution. Leaders of the Bangladesh Environment Movement have expressed concern over the issue.. If waste management cannot be done properly, then what is the role of the city corporation, municipality and union council? People pay taxes for waste management. Throwing garbage in this way is also a crime. The district and upazila administration, the Department of Environment, and the relevant government departments need to be strict on these issues.
Residents of the Haratoli area say that the Cumilla City Corporation started throwing garbage in the area about two years ago. Then it gradually turned into a garbage dump. As the days passed, the size of the garbage dump became longer. Due to this, walking through the area has become quite difficult. The residents of the surrounding area are facing the most problems. There are at least three educational institutions around the garbage dump. Their teachers and students are also fed up with the stench of the garbage.
Local resident Nawab Ali said, we have repeatedly stopped the garbage from being thrown, but nothing has worked. The City Corporation has razed the area surrounded by greenery. The garbage is still increasing every day. Now we see that the EPZ authorities are also polluting the air and environment by dumping garbage here.
Jasmin Sima, a student at a local institution, said, "I can't sit in the classroom because of the stench. The stench of dirt wafts into my nose with just a little air. I have to hold my nose while entering the college. Apart from this, the environment is also being severely polluted."
Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Sadar Dakshin Upazila of Cumilla , Syed Refai Abid, said, "Humans have turned this place in Howratoli on the highway into a huge garbage dump. Here, everyone from homes, markets, and industrial establishments have been dumping garbage and littering, violating the environmental law.
This waste has become a source of suffering for passengers, drivers, and pedestrians traveling on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. One has to cross this place by sniffing. On Wednesday, Sigma Ecotech Limited was dumping toxic sludge waste from the Cumilla EPZ at the place.
At that time, after receiving the news and receiving complaints, a drive was conducted against the institution and they were fined. From today onwards, action will be taken against those who pollute the air and environment by collecting garbage at this place in Howratoli.
