18,000 die in Dhaka city from pollution: WB

M Humayun Kabir: Some 18,000 deaths from environmental pollution occurred in 2015 in Dhaka, according to a World Bank report.
Showing the urgency to immediately fix the city’s environment, the report also said nearly 578,000 life years were lost in the capital in that year alone, reports The Daily Star.
The report on Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) 2018 for Bangladesh titled ‘Enhancing Opportunities for Clean and Resilient Growth in Urban Bangladesh’ said 80,000 people died in the country’s urban areas in the same year and due to the same reason.
Around 2.6 million years of healthy life (disability adjusted life year-DALY) were lost due to disability caused by such pollutions like air pollution, inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), arsenic in drinking water, and occupational pollutants in urban areas, said The World Bank in its latest study.
The economic cost of this mortality in terms of foregone labor output is estimated at US$1.40 billion in all urban areas of the country, which is equivalent to 0.7 per cent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015.
Environmental pollution due to such uncontrolled urbanisation and industrialisation is already imposing a significant cost on Bangladesh’s economy, according to the report.
The report revealed that the textile sector produces a massive 2.81 million tonnes of wastes annually as of 2012.
Workers in industrial establishments of the country face the risk of cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and other health impacts due to the lack of mitigation practices, including the use of personal protective equipment.
“Sustained unplanned urbanization, the infilling and delinking of perennial wetlands and rivers, and the shrinking of many link canals across Dhaka has exacerbated urban flooding and contributed to various recurring environmental problems,” the WB report said.