How can an individual take steps to prevent pollution? This question may seem simple, but it’s actually a big challenge that many people and nations around the world are trying to solve. According to the World Health Organization, pollution is a major cause of death worldwide. According to research, different kinds of pollution, such as air, water, soil, sound pollution, etc., are responsible for about 40% of the deaths around the world. And the World Health Organization (WHO) found out that household air pollution and ambient air pollution cause 7 million premature deaths annually worldwide. As the number of people living in cities increases, so does the amount of pollution. So, one should take proper steps to fight pollution. Why Is It Necessary to Fight against Pollution at Individual Level? When we think of pollution, we usually think of things that are released into the environment by large organisations or governments. However, some pollution is also caused by individuals. Pollution at the individual level can greatly impact the environment and public health.  Pollution at the individual level comes from a variety of sources such as vehicles, factories, and homes. Polluting activities can release harmful chemicals into the air, water, and soil. These pollutants can cause a wide range of problems, including acid rain, air pollution, and water contamination. So, it is necessary to stop pollution at the individual level to save the world. Read Mass Bathing in Buriganga Sunday demanding pollution-free river There are many ways people can fight against pollution from an individual level. We can use our voices to speak out against polluting companies, we can reduce pollution levels individually, we can work to create policies that reduce pollution, or we can use our money to support organisations that work to protect the environment. Ways One Person Reduce Air, Water, and Sound Pollution Pollution has been a huge issue for decades and is still going strong. Whether it be in the form of chemical warfare, nuclear fallout, toxic waste runoff, or acid rain, the list of harmful pollutants goes on and on. While some causes are unavoidable (natural disasters like volcanoes and hurricanes), there are many things we can do to help lower the amount of pollution that comes from individual sources, such as our homes. Read Solution to pollution: Sprinkling water on Dhaka's roads & construction sites?

A new study blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000. That increase is offset by fewer pollution deaths from primitive indoor stoves and water contaminated with human and animal waste, so overall pollution deaths in 2019 are about the same as 2015. The United States is the only fully industrialized country in the top 10 nations for total pollution deaths, ranking 7th with 142,883 deaths blamed on pollution in 2019, sandwiched between Bangladesh and Ethiopia, according to a new study in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. Tuesday’s pre-pandemic study is based on calculations derived from the Global Burden of Disease database and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle. India and China lead the world in pollution deaths with nearly 2.4 million and almost 2.2 million deaths a year, but the two nations also have the world’s largest populations. When deaths are put on a per population rate, the United States ranks 31st from the bottom at 43.6 pollution deaths per 100,000. Chad and the Central African Republic rank the highest with rates about 300 pollution deaths per 100,000, more than half of them due to tainted water, while Brunei, Qatar and Iceland have the lowest pollution death rates ranging from 15 to 23. The global average is 117 pollution deaths per 100,000 people. Pollution kills about the same number of people a year around the world as cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke combined, the study said. “9 million deaths is a lot of deaths,” said Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program and Global Pollution Observatory at Boston College. Read: Brick kilns threaten environment & cause health hazards in south-western Bangladesh “The bad news is that it’s not decreasing,” Landrigan said. “We’re making gains in the easy stuff and we’re seeing the more difficult stuff, which is the ambient (outdoor industrial) air pollution and the chemical pollution, still going up.” It doesn’t have to be this way, researchers said. “They are preventable deaths. Each and every one of them is a death that is unnecessary,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health, who wasn’t part of the study. She said the calculations made sense and if anything. was so conservative about what it attributed to pollution, that the real death toll is likely higher. The certificates for these deaths don’t say pollution. They list heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, other lung issues and diabetes that are “tightly correlated” with pollution by numerous epidemiological studies, Landrigan said. To then put these together with actual deaths, researchers look at the number of deaths by cause, exposure to pollution weighted for various factors, and then complicated exposure response calculations derived by large epidemiological studies based on thousands of people over decades of study, he said. It’s the same way scientists can say cigarettes cause cancer and heart disease deaths. “That cannon of information constitutes causality,” Landrigan said. “That’s how we do it.” Five outside experts in public health and air pollution, including Goldman, told The Associated Press the study follows mainstream scientific thought. Dr. Renee Salas, an emergency room doctor and Harvard professor who wasn’t part of the study, said “the American Heart Association determined over a decade ago that exposure to (tiny pollution particles) like that generated from the burning of fossil fuels is causal for heart disease and death.”

The World Bank has approved $170 million to improve sanitation services in Dhaka city benefiting around 1.5 million people.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury on Wednesday said treatment plants will be installed at the threshold of drainages to check water pollution of Buriganga River.

The High Court on Thursday issued a contempt of court rule against Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taskim A Khan.

The High Court on Wednesday observed that time has come to declare Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka as an ecologically critical area due to widespread pollution.