A rising concern has been developing in
Bangladesh over the past few years.
Textile factories have been dumping waste into the river systems causing health
issues not just for the environment but also for the people of
Bangladesh. The
pollution from these factories has polluted the river system to the point that
crops hardly grow, the water supply is in bad shape and the wastes have the
potential to kill the local people. The
Genda Government
Primary School in Savar
is about 200 yards from multiple textile factories. Accounts from students say
that the air is unbearable and the river that runs close to the school is
colored upon what dyes are being used in the factories on a given day. The
mayor of Savar, Mohammed Abdul Kader, said that crops have almost stopped
producing. Environmental laws have been implemented but due to the industries’
power along with the political concern, these laws are sometimes overlooked. In
some accounts, irritated industry owners forced the transfer of environmental
officials. There have been efforts to treat the water by the local industries
but some of them either turn them off to save money or the waste is not treated
properly. Second to
China,
Bangladesh is
one of the largest producers of clothing. Companies such as Wal-Mart, J.C.
Penny and H&M get there products from
Bangladesh. H&M has donated
money to environmental programs but little has been done by the global
community. Something clearly has to be done to prevent the toxic waste that is
not only harming the environment, but the people of
Bangladesh too. We as a country
consume products from here and should help to prevent such devastation for the
people of
Bangladesh.
I agree that water pollution is a large problem. Polluted water affects so many different things: people, animals, and the ecosystem. It seems the government is bending to the pressure of the large businesses operating there. Unfortunately, this happens all the time. Governments are influenced more often by business (and money) than by the everyday person. Maybe we here in the United States could boycott products produced in Bangladesh until their government does something to stop the textile factories from polluting the rivers.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound good. For what I know, American industries are moving out of the states and go international because it's cheaper, especially the poorer countries. Bangladesh is one of them, I definitely agree that something seriously have to be done quickly. People in these countries are highly dependent on rivers as their source. With factories like Logan mentioned above built right on the river and pollute it, they are pretty much killing wild animals/ creatures and also human who are feeding off from the water source.
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