Dust thou art, to dust returnest
Thus Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes of the human body in his seminal poem, A Psalm of Life. However, the poem at no point deals with frustration or pessimism. In the following line, Not spoken of the soul, the poet clarifies that Life is real! Life is earnest! and the theme runs: But to act, that each to-morrow/Find us farther than to-day.
So, the mundane world is not refuted at all. Hasn't a composer penned the famous song where dust-sprinkled gem-like sons of this soil go wallowing. When dust has been paid such glowing tribute, why has this been considered a grave threat to human life in the capital and elsewhere? The reason is simple: the dust people know of is no longer the same. Its pollution has surpassed that of other cities in the world. On January 19 and 20 last at about 11 pm, Dhaka's air was the worst polluted in the world. Last year Dhaka ranked third in terms of air pollution.
So, dust has also become adulterated and uncertainty lies over the make-up of human body and also its return to what was once meant by Longfellow. The dust now hovering in the capital's air contains particles of lead, cadmium, zinc, chromium, nickel, arsenic, manganese and copper. What is particularly worrying is that the presence of cadmium in the dust is 200 times higher than it is normally supposed to be in soil. Lead and nickel are twice as high in the dust as it is in soil. Even the proportion of arsenic is much higher in dust than soil and water.
People come in contact with the dust not only when they are on the street or in the open, 42 per cent of polluted dust finds its way into houses. Not only do the harmful particles come in contact with skin but some of those enter human body with foods and drinks. Either of these causes diseases that can kill people. A World Bank report estimates that 80,000 people died of dust pollution in the country's urban areas alone. Worldwide the rate of death on account of such pollution is 16 per cent but in Bangladesh it is 28 per cent.
The spectre that unfolds before this overcrowded city with ill-managed traffic system is simply terrible. The source of cadmium and nickel is battery-driven vehicles. Some factories using cadmium for plate-making and colouring of glass and plastic are also likely to contribute to the pollution. The results of different studies have established irrefutable hard facts. But will the policymakers now look for a solution to this problem on a priority basis?
Pollution of air water and soil has never been high on the agenda here. For decades tanneries at Hazaribagh have heavily polluted the Buriganga. Even though the tanneries have been shifted to Savar, the central effluent treatment plant could not be readied for taking care of the waste. The pollution was only shifted from the Buriganga to the Dhaleswari. Tannery pollution may have spared the Buriganga but it still has to struggle with pollution from different other sources. A picture carried on the first page of a contemporary on Thursday last could mislead anyone. Bluish foam and froth presented a picture similar to snowfall on roads not negotiable for vehicles. But actually it was discharges from garments factories into the river Turag at Roopnagar point.
Jet-black water in the Buriganga failed the authorities to swing into action. Similarly, effluent of different colours released is not a pleasant spectacle. Yet the authorities are hardly prompt enough to act. The pollutant particles in the dust are invisible to naked eyes. It will be too much to expect that the authorities will take serious note of the matter. But it deserves immediate attention or else the entire city will turn into an ugly and sick dungeon.