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The government plans to phase out 4,500 old buses as part of its efforts to combat air and dust pollution, announced Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Water Resources.
This initiative is part of a broader strategy to create a cleaner Bangladesh, which also includes planting trees along road dividers and launching a cleanup project for the River Buriganga. The success of these projects will depend on the availability of funding.
Rizwana made the announcement during a citizen dialogue organized by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) at the CIRDAP Auditorium in Dhaka on Monday.
She highlighted the growing challenges of urban waste management, stressing that while legislation is crucial, its success relies on proper implementation. Rizwana also called for more active involvement from local governments, civil society, and the private sector to address these issues.
The event featured several prominent speakers, including Supreme Court senior lawyer and BLAST Honorary Executive Director Sara Hossain, Dhaka South City Corporation’s Chief Waste Management Officer Air Commodore Md Mahbubur Rahman Talukdar, and Practical Action Bangladesh Country Director Ishrat Shabnam.
The speakers emphasized the importance of solid waste collection, reuse, and recycling, while pointing out public awareness and poor management as key challenges.
The dialogue concluded with calls for stronger public-private partnerships and collective action to improve waste management and raise civic awareness across the country.
