Bangladesh Faces Dangerous Environmental Disasters

The recently released Environmental Performance Index (EPI) clearly demonstrates how the environmental problems in Bangladesh's economic development are neglected. It is regrettable that Bangladesh ranks 179 out of 180 countries.

It is no comfort that India and Nepal came in at 177 and 176, respectively. This only shows that the fact that more than 160 million Bangladeshi people live in dangerous conditions is not isolated. We are in a region where the environment is at risk. Despite environmental awareness, Bhutan's index of neighboring countries in India, Nepal and Bangladesh is 131. Sri Lanka is an exception to the region, ranking 70. This situation requires that environmental ministers from neighboring countries meet regularly. They can look at how some African countries are trying to improve their lists.

Addressing this issue in multilateral forums rather than in bilateral forums will result in a more effective formulation of a common strategy. The latest report overshadowed the pledges made by the region's government to the public. Unfortunately, the political government in the region lags far behind the European vision for development. They prefer to provide people with success stories related to GDP success rates, infrastructure and other evidence of successful development.

Only hope they realize that in the absence of a sound environment, democracy and good governance can not be effective. The report notes that Bangladesh and India are facing this precarious environmental dilemma due to the performance of sectors such as air quality, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. In dealing with these issues, Bangladesh must demonstrate its political commitment. There are already legal and supervisory bodies and the enforcement of these laws is deplorable. The failure of judicial intervention to protect rivers and wetlands shows that political commitment is a pressing factor.