Barguna municipal waste treatment plant built at a cost of Tk 16 crore has not been started after three years of its inauguration. Every day 7/8 tons of waste of the whole city is dumped in the densely populated area of Sonakhali of the municipal city. This toxic waste is polluting the surrounding environment.
It has been seen on the ground that there are 10-15 families less than 50 yards away from Bhagar of Sonakhali in Barguna Municipality. All the families, including children and the elderly, are suffering from breathing problems due to the fumes of garbage burning along with the pest of mosquitoes. All the garbage of Barguna Paur city is dumped in the densely populated area of Sonakhali. Municipal cleaners set fire to this pile of garbage every night. The fire continued to burn throughout the day. The residents of this place are spending miserable days with the black smoke and stench of burning plastic waste including garbage and polythene.
In this regard, health experts say that public life is threatened by the combination of hospital waste and general waste.
It is known that a waste treatment plant has been constructed in Helibuniya village of Barguna Sadar Union under the LGSP project funded by the World Bank in 2021. All the waste of Barguna municipal city is dumped in open space in Sonakhali area instead of taking it to the constructed waste treatment plant. In residential areas, villages and populated areas, there is no provision for municipal garbage disposal, but the authorities have done it at will. The stench of this waste has made it unfit to live in the area. Residents have to live in this stench 24 hours a day and night. Municipal waste treatment plant has been constructed at a cost of Tk 16 crore. But it is not being used by the municipal authorities due to lack of skilled and experienced and required manpower.
Bithi Akhter, a housewife of a slum near wastage in Sonakhali, said that it has turned into a huge pile of garbage in front of her house for 20 years. Still every night, garbage is dumped on this heap by trucks. The dirt is scattered all over the road until morning. Then the level of stench increases again. City residents going to school-college, office-court has to cover their noses from morning to afternoon.
School students traveling through this route said that when they leave the city, they see garbage everywhere. Bad smell comes to the nose. The environment is getting polluted. Health risks are increasing. We have to come and go to school through this road every day. The stench of dirt and burning plastic makes breathing difficult.
Md Rafiqul Islam Ripon, Executive Officer of Barguna Municipality said, we are working on waste management. A sewage treatment plant was constructed outside the municipal town at a cost of Tk 16 crore three years ago. The refinery constructed in the desolate area of Helibunia area will be commissioned soon by employing skilled and experienced manpower.
Civil Surgeon Doctor Pradeep Chandra Mondal said unplanned waste management is harmful to the environment and public health. Open space cannot be a garbage dump. The combination of hospital and general waste in the open poses serious health risks. So hospital waste and general waste should be recycled separately by removing garbage from open space. Two types of waste produce toxic gas and cause serious diseases in the human body.
ZH
