Executive Executives u m m a r y summary

The mega city of Dhaka cannot afford the burden of 140 million people on its 360 kilometers of land. The concentrated populated itself poses a potential threat. The highrise buildings, continuously rising industries, increasing number of transports and growing slums continue aggravating the situation. 60 percent of her citizens live beyond the city facilities in spite of their living in the ambit of the city. They throng to the city just to earn their living. Driven by extreme poverty, insecurity, river erosion, serious unemployment problem have sent them to this city. Quickly this situation cannot be changed.

Environmentalists have expressed concern that the encroachment on the river Buriganga, the life line of Dhaka city, traffic congestion, pollution and diseases are turning this once majestic city into a choking hell. About fifty percent of the river's pollution load comes from the industrial source while sewerage and domestic wastes contribute to the remaining fifty percent. Between 1980-2009 the population of Dhaka has swelled from three million to more than ten million and its importance has increased manifold but the basic amenities have not kept up with the changes.. Water from the river Buriganga and Shitalakhya that would have supplemented the need of drinking water and other purposes such as cooking and washing has been fouled as much by raw sewerage as by a number of industrial and chemical units and even pesticides. Traffic jam stands as the number one problem of Dhaka city. 93%city dwellers are directly related to it. It was followed by pollution 62 percent, higher fares 46 percent, and frequent accidents 26 percent, hijacking 26 percent The city's vehicle population has almost increased ten times since 1992 as a result of our failure to introduce mass transport. Eighty percent of the vehicles are three wheelers, small buses of the old days and cars which spew more than half the major pollutants. Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, photochemical oxides e.g. ozone, nitrogen oxides, particular matter and lead are the main culprits .A recent study indicates that motor vehicles are a major or primary source of other toxic air pollutants including 1.3 butadiene, benzene and a number of carcinogens. In developed countries governments have fought for clean air by regulating all major and many minor sources of air pollution. Industrial emissions have been significantly reduced. As a result of new motor vehicle emission standards introduced in 1988, new vehicles in developed nations are 90 percent cleaner than those manufactured in 1970s.