Planning implications of industrial waste management in Tejgaon industrial area of Dhaka city

Abstract

Rapid industrialization and urbanization d ~l~,~~ent encroachment of industrial areas into residential a as or vice verse have been identified as some of the major reasons for environmental degradation in the urban areas in most of the developing countries as the industries of these countries are yet not fully exposed to the modern technologies for their production processes and yet to adopt modern methods for the overall management of industrial wastes. Growth rate of urbanization in Bangladesh is one of the highest in Asia.and by the end of this century it is expected to reach 26.4% which means around 37.3 million people of Bangladesh will be living in urban areas. Most of the industries of Bangladesh are already either in the existing urban areas or expected to be within the urban areas by the end of this century. Industrial development is essential for catering the needs of the growing populations of Bangladesh. Unfortunately, the industries in Bangladesh do not follow any systematic approach for managing their wastes so it is feared that more people will be exposed to the potential threat of environmental pollution which may endanger their physical and mental health in future. Realizing the gravity of the situation this study has been initiated with the expectation that this study would help formulating policies for industrial waste management in a systematic and scientific way for Tejgaon Industrial Area and which can be replicated for other industrial estates near the urban areas of Bangladesh. This study finds that there is an. urgent need and scope to improve the present industrial waste management practices in Tejgaon Industrial Area as the industries of this area do not practice any scientific way for managing their produced wastes. Moreover, the agencies involved in waste management task at area level lack in adequate technical and nontechnical manpower, necessary facilities and equipments and above all they are starved with adequate budgetary allocations needed for their ...i .. smooth functioning. Besides individual actions by the agencies involved with out coordination among other agencies have made the task more complicated. The enforcement activity of environmental laws, standards for the IWM are extremely limited in the country. The people living in the industrial areas or the surrounding areas of industrial estates are not well informed about the harmful effects of waste mismanagement. Industry owner have been found reluctant to adopt scientific measures for waste management in their respective industrial units. From this study a model has been developed for industrial waste management in TIA and roles of different organizations have been identified. It has been observed that 3 levels of activities viz., national level, area level and plant level activities are necessary for integrated management of industrial wastes in TIA .. A good coordination among the agencies and organizations involved indifferent activities and a firm commitment from the industry owners can help in better managing the industrial wastes which are being produced in TIA