PM orders crackdown on plastic pollution

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday instructed law enforcement agencies to intensify measures against the rampant use of polythene and plastic, while simultaneously urging relevant ministries, divisions and agencies to fulfil their obligations diligently in confronting the nation's mounting environmental crisis.

The directive emerged from a review meeting on environmental pollution control convened at the Secretariat, during which the government's existing initiatives, their implementation trajectory and forthcoming priorities came under scrutiny. Furthermore, discussions centred on broadening the adoption of eco-friendly block bricks, an alternative increasingly viewed as indispensable to curbing the environmental degradation wrought by conventional brick kilns. In addition, the meeting underscored the imperative of reinforcing measures to contain air, water, soil and noise pollution, alongside bolstering the country's waste management framework--areas that, notwithstanding repeated policy pledges, have long suffered from inconsistent enforcement.

Among those in attendance were Road Transport and Bridges, Railways and Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad, and State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Sheikh Faridul Islam. Likewise, several senior officials were present, namely Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister A B M Abdus Sattar, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md Abdus Salam, and the Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Saimum Parvez.

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Ultimately, the meeting's outcome signals a renewed governmental resolve to tackle pollution comprehensively rather than piecemeal; nevertheless, the efficacy of these directives will hinge decisively on their subsequent enforcement, given that similar pronouncements in the past have not infrequently fallen short of translating into tangible, sustained change on the ground.