UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA

An Assignment on

Nature and Characteristic of Man-made Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Disaster in

Program

: MS in Disaster Management

Course Title Management Course Code

: Introduction to Natural Hazard and Disaster

: 5111

Submitted to

: Dr. AQM Mahbub Professor Department of Geography and Environment University of Dhaka

Submitted by Class roll Date of Submission

: Misuk Kumer Datta : 524 : 30.03.2013

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Contents

Title

Page Number

INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE MANMADE DISASTER IN DHAKA CITY

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTIC OF MANMADE DISASTER IN DHAKA CITY

Page | 2 Page | 4 Page | 5 Page | 6 Page | 6 Page | 8 Page | 11 Page | 12 Page | 14 Page | 16 Page | 17 Page | 20 Page | 22 Page | 23

WATER LOGGING URBAN FIRE RIVER POLLUTION GROUNDWATER DEPLETION AIR POLLUTION SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT TRAFFIC CONGESTION RECOMMENDATION CONCLUSION REFERENCE

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Introduction
The Bangladesh is low laying alluvial deltaic plan lies between 20034' and 26038' North Latitude and 88001' and 92041' East Longitude with a total landmass of 1,47,570 square kilometers (56,977 Sq. miles). Bangladesh is surrounded by India on the West, North and Northeast, Myanmar on the Southeast and the Bay of Bengal on the South. The countries unique geographic location, with the Bay of Bengal to the south, the Himalayas to the North and the prevailing monsoons, has made it one of the wettest countries of the world. The mean annual rainfall is about 2320mm, but there are places with a mean annual rainfall of 6000mm or more (Hossain et al., 1987). The country is formed by the fluvial process of three major river systems namely the Ganges, the Bramhaputra and the Meghna. More than 220 rivers crisscrossed the country and make it reiverine. Total number of 57 rivers including GBM is known as Transboundary river. Bangladesh is based on Agriculture mainly, with two thirds of the population engaged directly and indirectly on Agricultural activities; although the country is trying move towards industrialization slowly during the last one and a half decade almost. Due to its geographical location the country is more vulnerable in natural disaster. The country is experiencing different type of natural disaster in every year. Among the entire natural disaster cyclone, tornado, storm surge, drought and flood are mentionable. The country is also vulnerable in manmade hazard like fire, water logging, groundwater depletion, river pollution, air pollution, environmental degradation, solid waste disposal and traffic congestion etc. In every year disaster causes widespread human, material or environmental losses which increase poverty of the country. A study represent that poor are more vulnerable in a natural disaster and poor become poorer due to effect of a disaster. Dhaka formerly spelled Dacca is the capital of the Bangladesh. It is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. It is located on the banks of the river Buriganga and lies between 23053 and 24006 north latitudes and between 90001' and 90037' east longitudes. Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, has an estimated population of over 12 million in 2008, making it the largest city in Bangladesh. It is

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the 9th largest city in the world and also 28th among the most densely populated cities in

Figure: Dhaka City Map 4|Page

the world. It is predicted that the population of Dhaka city would reach 22 million in 2015 (Islam, 2001), when it will become the second most populous city in Asia. Internal migration has caused a surge in residential demand in Dhaka city. Due to rapid urbanization process, the city is emerging as a mega-city and this trend generates numerous economic and
Photo: Dhaka in 1908

social externalities and social cost such as deterioration of environmental quality, increased pollution and congestion. Dhaka city is beset with a number of socio-environmental problems. Water logging, traffic congestion, solid waste disposal, black smoke from vehicular and

industrial emissions, air and noise pollution, pollution of water bodies by industrial discharge, all these are the regular problem of the city.
Photo: Dhaka in 2013 (Panthapath)

Objective

Objectives of this assignment are: Find out different type of manmade disaster in Dhaka city. Find out causes of different types of manmade disaster. Describe nature and effect of manmade disaster on city dweller. Describe effect of manmade disaster on country economy. Recommending mitigation measure for reducing effect of manmade disaster.

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Manmade Disaster in Dhaka City:

A natural hazard has an element of human involvement. A physical event, such as a flood, that does not affect human beings is a natural phenomenon but not a natural hazard. A natural phenomenon that occurs in a populated area is a hazardous event. A hazardous event that causes unacceptably large numbers of fatalities and/or overwhelming property damage is a natural disaster. In areas where there are no human interests, natural phenomena do not constitute hazards nor do they result in disasters. Human intervention can increase the frequency and severity of natural hazards. Hazard is two types one is Human-made hazards (also called anthropogenic hazards) are distinguishable from environmental hazards by the direct level of human involvement in their causation. Another one hazard is Environmental or Natural Hazards/Disasters generally refers to geophysical events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, flooding, cyclone, lightening etc. Due to rapid urbanization process and huge population the Dhaka city is generating numerous economic and social externalities and social cost such as deterioration of environmental quality, increased pollution and congestion. Unplanned settlements are causing manmade disaster. Unplanned settlement is also causing fire hazard. In every year fire damage our life and property. People are filling low land illegally which reduced natural reservoir and causing water logging. On the other hand unplanned way of solid waste management is a reason for air pollution. Solid waste is also contributing in river pollution. Disposal of untreated waste from different industry is also contributing in river pollution as well as environmental degradation. In a planned city it is necessary to reserved 25% space for road but the Dhaka has only 5-6% space which causing traffic congestion. The Dhaka city is experiencing different types of manmade disaster. Among entire manmade disaster water logging, urban fire, river pollution, ground water depletion, air pollution, solid waste management, building collapse and traffic congestion are mentionable. Manmade Hazard

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Nature and Characteristic of Manmade Disaster in Dhaka City:

Water logging:
The Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh has

become one of the populous Mega City in the world, in recent years facing extensive water logging during the monsoon (May to October). spatial Unplanned development
Photo: Water logging in Mirpur area (Source: news.priyo.com 19.06.12)

activities and growth of habitation due to rapid population growth are causing encroachment on retention areas and natural drainage paths with little or no care of natural drainage system. Excessive rainfall, inadequate drainage sections, conventional drainage system with low capacity and gravity, natural siltation, absence of inlets and outlets, indefinite drainage outlets, lack of proper maintenance of existing drainage system, and over and above disposal of solid waste into the drains and drainage paths are accounted for the prime causes of blockage in drainage system and water logging. In addition, seasonal tidal effect and topography city area of also water the the

causing logging.

Photo: Water logging in Chankharpul area (Source: Daily New Age 09.08.12)

Photo: Water logging in Chankharpul area (Source: news.priyo.com 20.08.12)

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 Reason behind water logging:

In the eve of urbanization of the Dhaka city, storm water is drain out on the river through different canal. The city has many canals which was interlink with each other and also has navigability. The mentionable canal of the Dhaka city was Dhanmondi lake, Ramna lake, Crescent lake, Gulshan lake, Dholaikhal khal, Gerani khal, Segunbagicha khal, Panthapath khal, Begunbari khal, Ramchandrapur khal, Katasur khal, Kallyanpur khal, Rupnagar khal and many other branches of above canal. The DWASA and DCC were unwisely filling segunbagicha, Panthapath and Dholaikhal respectively by covered box culvert. Due to construction fault, it is difficult to properly cleaning of these box culverts. As a result huge sediment is deposited in culvert bed and causes water logging in vast area of Motijheel, Ramna, Dhanmondi and Sutrapur thana jurisdiction. Others khal are illegally filled by land grabber in partly or entirely and reducing natural flow, resulting water logging in vast area. Inefficient waste management is another reason for water logging. Polythene and others floating materials are making obstruction in catch pits and enter storm sewer line, which causing block in sewer as a result water logging in surface. On the other polythene and floating materials also deposited on peripheral hand are into

rivers of the city and causing river pollution. The Dhaka city drainage
Photo: Floating materials are blocking drainage line

systems are construction and maintenance by different organization of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA). According to Drainage Act of the Dhaka city the DCC is responsible for construction and maintenance of tertiary drainage line and DWASA is responsible for construction and maintenance of primary and secondary drainage
Photo: Tertiary drainage line of DCC

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line. From tertiary drainage line storm sewage enters into secondary line then primary line and finally river. But it is find out that in many cases the DCC is not maintaining proper level for constructing drainage line. So tertiary lines are filled by sediment after few years and storm water cannot enter in secondary line causing water logging in vast area. Lack of coordination of DCC and DWASA is another reason for water logging.

Urban Fire:

Occurrence of fire incidences is a common phenomenon in Dhaka city, particularly in dry season. Fire break out in slums, garment factories and small manufacturing industries are regular news item during the season. Fire break outs cause loss of numerous lives and valuable properties in the city. With the increase of industrial establishments, mainly small industries, the number of fire incidences is increasing rapidly. Dhaka City has been experiencing high rate of urbanization since the last few decades. The development trend of Dhaka is deliberately shifting vertical direction to cope with the extensive population pressure. Nowadays, high rise buildings are being constructed in every parts of the city but in most cases the dwellings are being constructed without maintaining the planning rules and regulations. Fire hazard vulnerability of Dhaka City dwellers has been increased due to reckless building construction and non-conformation of Fire Protection Act, 2003. Dhaka City has been experiencing many fire accidents at present and in most cases lack of proper precautionary measures along with the institutional inefficiency, insufficient equipment support and lack of public awareness are causing this situation more complex. Existing planning rules and laws are also insufficient to the present context of Dhaka City. As most of the dwellers do not know how to use the fire fighting equipments, in most cases all the precautionary measures for combating fire generally go into vein. Therefore, institutional reform, strengthening of capacity at individual and institutional level is needed in order to reduce fire hazard risks of Dhaka City.

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 Reason behind Urban Fire:

Soon after the liberation war, Dhaka City faced a rapid boom of urbanization. The city not only expanded in terms of physical dimension but also population and structural density increased very rapidly. Dhaka, the most densely populated city in the world with a population of about 15 million in an area of 1528 sq km, is one of the vulnerable places where fire outbreaks are very common. The development trend of the city took place in a haphazard and unplanned manner with little or no attention to the issue of land use and structural planning which leads to increase occurrence of fire hazard nowadays. Increase in population has a subsequent linkage with more frequent urban conflagrations. Although other forms of hazards, like cyclone and floods, have overshadowed threat from fire hazard, fires do cause considerable damages of the country. Official records from the BFSCDA show that the number of fire incidents in the Dhaka metropolitan: 2006 (1220 times), 2007 (1100), 2008 (1110), 2009 (1775), 2010 (2068) and 2011 up to March (638). There are many minor incidences which are not reported (BFSCD, 2008). In Old Dhaka, there is not a single building available with fire fighting equipments. Almost 60% of the buildings have no planning permission from RAJUK and neither any permission of fire safety and about 92% of the buildings located beside the minor roads have no fire license. The buildings of Shakahari Bazar, Boxibazar, Chawak Bazar
Photo: Fire incidence in Nimtali, Dhaka

have found intermixing of uses as the ground floor is using for the storage of various materials or shopping and the upper floors are for living. In most cases, in the ground floor, flammable materials like clothing, fiber, plastic equipments are found to be conserved. The electric wiring and gas connections in the residential buildings of Old Dhaka are in great threat for the occurrence of fire accidents in any time. On the other hand in new Dhaka, the apartment dwellers are unconscious regarding the standard of electric equipments used in the building. Many building have fire fighting equipments, but the dwellers are not aware about the use of those equipments. Many

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people

have

no

mental

preparedness

and

precaution against any fire incidence. Almost 95% people do not know how to use fire extinguisher and other fire fighting equipments. In slum area main reason of fire hazard is electric short circuit, electric or gas or traditional stove and smoking. Slum area is more vulnerable in fire hazard due to high density of people. The main reason of fire hazard is lack of awareness

Photo: Fire incidence at Basundhara shopping

of the people. The Bashundhara shopping mall is a modern building in the Dhaka and well equipped with fire fighting system but due to lack of operational knowledge of firefighting equipment the building is highly damage by fire. In old Dhaka area road are very narrow and have not source of huge amount of water so fire service team cannot work properly causing widespread damage. In slum area population density is higher than other area. All the slum dweller is low payee and has not proper knowledge about fire safety. So they cannot take
Photo: Fire incidence in Agargaon Slum on 20.02.13

safety measure and seriously affected by fire. The RAJUK and BFSCD have few numbers of personnel for monitoring building construction work so, they cannot monitor construction work properly consequently people are violating firefighting rule. Only public awareness can avoid many incidences of fire destruction and loss of lives. Electric short circuit and spread of fire from the burner are the major causes for fire hazards in Dhaka City. Lack of maintenance of the equipments for a long time generally causes the electric short circuit. Awareness at the individual public level could prevent the occurrence of such fire incidence.

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River Pollution:
The river Turag, Balu and Shitalakhya are situated in the periphery of Dhaka City. At present these are the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh. Dhaka City is very densely populated and will be one of the ten Mega Cities in the near future. The amount of untreated wastes, both domestic and industrial, being released into the rivers is tremendous and is increasing day by day causing river pollution.

Reason behind river pollution:

Photo: Waste is disposing to the river Buriganga by DWASA (Source Dhaka Mirror11.01.10)

Main reason of the river pollution is indiscriminate disposal of untreated industrial effluents, municipal and domestic waste and sewage to the river. Another reason of the river pollution is the DWASA have not any storm sewage treatment plant. The authority is disposing storm sewage to the river without treatment. On the other hand only 30% of the Dhaka city area has sewerage coverage. Many people live in without sewerage coverage areas are not made septic tank during building construction. They dispose sanitary sewage directly in storm sewage line and ultimately this sewage is deposited in river which is a major cause of river pollution. More than 300 outfalls are found which disposing industrial and domestic waste water directly to the river without treatment. Poor people made slum on the canal and depositing solid and liquid waste directly to the canal as well as river. Unabated pollution, encroachment and fill up of canals, lakes, water bodies and
Photo: Chemical jar are washing in river near Buriganga 2 Bridge
nd

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wetlands by the land grabbers and industries are also responsible for river pollution. In Mitford area chemical seller are washed empty chemical drum in the river Buriganga. Water bound vehicle is disposing burn oil in the river which adding a feather on river pollution.

Photo: Slum on canal

Ground Water Depletion:

Access to water is a basic human right and it is a crosscutting issue for sustainable development.

Water resources have unlimited importance including human

survival, socio-economic stability and environmental sustainability. Water is right or economic good
Figure: Groundwater hydrograph of seven observation wells of Dhaka city from 1986 to 2005 (Source: Science Alert)

has been a matter of discourse since industrial revolution in the Eighteenth century. Dhaka city dwellers, following an unsystematic urban sprawl, are deprived of basic urban amenities where water supply has appeared as the most critical issue. Water supply of Dhaka city is heavily dependent on groundwater extraction where more than 87 percent of the supplied water is being extracted from this source. Such extensive dependency enhances a very high depletion rate of groundwater table. Dhaka city has been experiencing a sharp declination in groundwater table with more than 20 meters lower down during the last seven years at a rate of 2.81 meter per year (m/y) (Baten, A.M. etal. 2011). Considering the existing depletion rate, the study predicts that the groundwater table will go down to 120 meters by 2050. A study shows that the potential groundwater recharge of Dhaka city is only 1.33 m/y in contrast to 2.81 m/y of groundwater depletion rate. Such finding implies that despite sufficient amount of rainfall, Dhaka city is experiencing 1.48 m/y groundwater recharge
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deficit every year. Moreover, increased rate of urbanization, illegal occupation, and encroachment reduce the amount and volume of surface water bodies around the city that deteriorate the present situation.

Reason behind Ground Water Depletion:

According to the official, total water demand of the Dhaka city is 2250 MLD and the DWASA can meet up 2110 MLD against the citys total demand. It has been mentioned earlier that, DWASA supply is only 13% from surface water and rest 87% of water extracting from underground through about 600 nos deep tube well. Compared to the exploitation of

groundwater, recharge to aquifer is very negligible as the geological settings and urbanization has retarded both the vertical and horizontal recharges. Consequently, groundwater table is continuously

declining at an average rate of 2 m/year since, 1986. Continuous groundwater mining has caused the dry season water table to move downward from -54 to -45 m depth from the mean sea level. The severe decline of groundwater level was observed in the central part of the city, compare to the river periphery, creating a cone of depression. If this falling trend of the groundwater level continues that might create an increased pressure on water storage and may invite land subsidence or other environmental hazards. Now a days it is common practice to cover ground surface by concrete or clay tiles, which reduce scope of infiltration. U-shape RCC channel has been constructed by DWASA on the different canal. It also reduces scope of infiltration of canal water to ground. This RCC channel might be being catastrophic effect on ground water recharge and water logging removal as like covered box culvert.

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So, the aquifer requires sustainable management to protect future water quality and to ensure that the resource can continue to meet the quantitative demands being placed upon it.

Air Pollution:
Air pollution is one of the major environmental problems now days, especially for developing countries such as Bangladesh and Brickfields have been identified as a vital pollutant source of the major cities of the country. Verification of the applicability of an effective air quality model in Bangladesh condition,
Photo: A Brick field at Aminbazar, Savar, Dhaka

especially for brickfield pollution was the main concern of this work.

Reason Behind Air Pollution:

Air pollution is one of the major manmade environmental problems that have recently gained importance among environmental issues in Bangladesh. Exposure to air pollution is the main environmental threat to human health in towns and cities. Numerous brick-making kilns operating in the dry season are one of the major sources of air pollution in cities. Air quality of Dhaka city is severely affected by the pollutants from hundreds of brickfields located at the entry points into the Dhaka city: Amin Bazar, Keraniganj, Fatulla, Pagla, Tongi, Ashulia. These kilns produce bricks using an old conventional process. Every year more than 20 lakh metric tons
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of low quality coal and 20 lakh metric tons of wood are burnt in these brick fields along with tires and rubber. Only few fields use natural gas where it is available. The pollution is caused by the poor quality of fuel, improper design of chimneys and combustion chamber. Pollutants such as oxides of carbon, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds and particulates are produced from the brickfields. Moreover even under wellcontrolled processes worldwide, 0.2 microgram toxic equivalents of dioxins and furans are emitted as byproduct into the air during the production of each ton of brick, which is very harmful for lives. Brickfields also cause crop loss, corrosion of metallic objects and loss of soil fertility. Brickfields are one of the major sources of air pollution in Dhaka city. Recently this issue is being taken into consideration seriously. As brickfields are operated during the dry season, it is clear that brickfields have large contribution to the air pollution.

Air is also polluted from emission of industry. Many industries are established in Dhaka city and periphery of Dhaka city. All the industries emitted harmful gaseous content to the air. Hazaribagh tannery industries are in Dhaka city which polluted air, water and soil. Tanneries waste is used for preparing poultry through drying, burning and adding another chemical. Toxic substances are entering on poultry from tannery waste and subsequently in human body which may causes for cancer and any other disease. Drying and burning of tannery waste is another causes of air pollution. Black smoke emissions from vehicle, soil dust, vehicle rubber tire dust etc. are potential source of air pollution.

Photo Source: The Daily Star 26.02.13

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Solid Waste Management:

As urbanization and

economic

progress

increases consumption of resources also tend to increase in the same rate. This leads to

immense

negative

impact on environment in the sense of

generation of waste by the urban. Solid waste

Photo: Poor women are sorting recyclable things from household waste

generation and its impact is the most troublesome now a days Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh, with huge population within its city area of 360 sq. In addition to this about one million commuters visit the city everyday in search of their livelihood. The population of Dhaka city has increased rapidly, with a growth rate of 3.72% per year. In Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) area 60% houses are of low income, 37% middle income and the rest 3% constitutes highincome houses. The old part of Dhaka is more densely populated than the new part of Dhaka. The heavy inflow of population put strain on the city services including solid waste management. The city generates about 3,500 tons of solid waste each day (Enayetullah, 1995). Of which 3000 tons considered to be household waste. The municipality collects only half of the solid waste. The waste that is not collected by municipality is left on, to rot in the heat and humidity of the citys air. The resulting stenches, rodents clogged drains and pose a serious health problem to citys inhabitant. It is management that should given emphasis from the root level of waste generation. Information about physical and chemical properties of solid waste is important in evaluating equipment needs, systems and management programs and plans, especially with respect to the implementation of disposal and resource and energy recovery options. Characterization of waste is also important to determine its possible environmental impacts. The waste components, although vary widely with the location and season of the year, include food wastes, paper, plastic, cloths, metal, glass, construction materials and others (DCC 1999). As mentioned earlier household waste contributes most of the solid waste, so it should be manage properly. There are serious problems with the disposal of household rubbish. The local
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authority

regards

refuse

collection as a low priority. The collections made by the large trucks of Dhaka City Corporation are restricted to the main roads because they are unable to maneuver in the narrower

streets. As a result piles of waste sometimes left for months,

before it is cleared away.

Photo: Transportation of household waste

Traffic Congestion:
Traffic congestion in cities is a global

problem, and has been addressed mainly in two different ways: by creating more space and infrastructure for cars while banning

other vehicles, and by reducing the space and infrastructure for cars while improving the
Photo Source: The Daily Star 26.02.13

situation for walking, cycling and public transit. Several steps have been undertaken to reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka city, such as imposing restriction on the entrance of trucks in Dhaka during daytime, banning of cycle rickshaws in different roads, changing the time table of the trains, changing the lanes of public transport, construction of foot over bridges rather than zebra crossings, construction of flyovers, and so on. In addition, a traffic signal system was introduced, investing a huge amount of money. Though buses, trucks, rickshaws, trains and
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pedestrians have all been blamed for the congestion in Dhaka, after imposing restrictions on them the congestion level did not reduce.

Reason behind Traffic Congestion:

City lay-out (master plan) and over-population: The causes of traffic congestion in Dhaka city are multifarious. Starting from the city itself, it is observed that the skeleton, structure and lay-out of Dhaka City are not well-planned and well-directed. Dhaka is also a highly populated city. More than one crore people live here and the figure is increasing day by day. This huge population acts as an auto-catalyst of traffic congestion in Dhaka City.

Inadequate and unplanned roads: Dhaka City has very inadequate road networks. For a standard city, where the minimum road requirement is 25%, Dhaka has only 7.5% road of its total area. 30% of this 7.5% road is also occupied by the hawkers, salesman and shopkeepers. A significant portion is occupied by construction materials and waste-containers of the City Corporation. As a result, vehicles do not get sufficient space to move on. Besides this, in most cases roads are serpentine rather than Photo: DCC waste container on road being straight. This ultimately breeds a number of unnecessary junctions where vehicles automatically slow down. Again, these roads are also not well constructed and regularly repaired. City Corporation, DESA, WASA, BTTB excavate the roads randomly without any integrated and central plan. Lack of proper maintenance causes the vehicle to stop without any prior notice. During the rainy season the situation becomes more critical while the roads go under water due to heavy rain.

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Heterogeneous vehicles and inadequate public transport: Dhaka is a city of heterogeneous vehicles. Human puller to latest model automobile, mechanical to non-mechanical, slow to fast-moving, nothing left on the road of Dhaka. It is quite difficult to control all these vehicles on the same road as they have different speed capacity. Besides this, public transport system in Dhaka city is not adequate and properly-routed. Instead of big and spacious buses, presence of large number of minibuses and private vehicles can only contribute to carry few passengers, but not to reduction of traffic Photo: Heterogeneous vehicles on city road (bdnews24.com 13.04.11) congestion.

Rail crossing: Every day we are experiencing movement of 74 trains to and from Dhaka. On an average, it takes five minutes to get the clearance for each crossing. Thus every day in a single crossing, the vehicles stop for six hours that is really difficult to offset.

Photo: Malibagh rail crossing

Insufficient parking arrangement and road blockage: Limited parking arrangement is another major cause of excessive traffic in Dhaka City. It has become a regular practice to park the car on road. Even during rush hours, people are seen loading and unloading their vehicles on a busy road. City transports also stop here and there without any valid reason. The three major bus stations, Sayedabad,
Photo: Parking on Murpur road

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Gabtoli and Mohakhali do not have sufficient capacity to accommodate all the buses operating from here. A recent addition to road blockage is the long queue of vehicles at CNG stations, which is really difficult to overcome.

Recommendation:
For removing water logging from Dhaka city following measure should be taken: Assigning task to a single authority for construction and operating drainage work. Following Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for any development work. Strictly prohibit to filling flood flow zone. Strictly prohibit of polythene use. Preparing a drainage master plan. Strictly follow Drainage Act of Dhaka city. Maintaining natural drainage system.

Following initiative should be taken for reducing fire hazard: Strictly following Bangladesh National Building Code for all type of development work. Strengthening capacity of the BFSCD. Strictly monitoring development work. Awareness builds up through training and practice. Conducting mock drill.

Following initiative should be taken for avoiding river pollution: To construct treatment plan in all outlet of DWASA storm sewerage line. To construct septic tank with soak well in all house and disconnecting sanitary sewer line from storm sewer line. Preparing sewerage master plan. Developing effective solid waste management plan. Shifting garbage station from the embankment of the river Buriganga. Restore necessary ecological process of the river Buriganga. Avoiding burn oil disposal and washing empty chemical jar.

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Following initiative should be taken for reducing groundwater deletion: Reducing dependency on groundwater and developing surface water treatment plant and distribution system. Stopping all type of RCC surface covered development work. Avoiding surface wrapping by concrete or clay tiles. To take effective measure for recharging groundwater table.

To reducing air pollution following action may adapt: Strictly follow rule of Department of Environment, Bangladesh for establishing brick field Reducing black smoke and chemical emission from different industries and vehicle. Shifting tannery from Hazaribagh to tannery estate at Savar as soon as possible.

Following step of action may be adapted for effective waste management:

Developing integrated plan for waste management Using different basket at household level for separating recyclable and non recyclable waste. Strictly prohibit uses of polythene. Using covered container for transporting solid waste.

Following step of action may be for reducing traffic congestion:

Avoiding heterogeneous traffic system. Avoiding parking on road. Dividing lane for different speeded traffic. Evict hawker from footpath. Removing speed breaker from road. Repairing road periodically. Obey traffic rule in all cases.

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Conclusion:
In last century the Dhaka city was most beautiful and habitable place for living. At present the Dhaka is losing its beauty. Population pressure increased in Dhaka city day by day. Huge population causes pressure on existing utility facility and environmental regenerate capacity. It is not possible to increase utility service in overnight to meet up demand. Lack of proper utility facilities and increasing population pressure causes manmade hazard as well as manmade disaster in Dhaka city. This study is conducted over the basis of almost secondary data and this is not focused all over scenario of the problem. We should conduct much more study to realize this problem as a first concern issue and take the major steps to prevent this problem for making habitable and environment friendly city life.

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Reference:
Government of Bangladesh (2013) Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority: Performance and Challenge, Dhaka: Dhaka WASA. The New Age (2010) Report on Downpour strain city life, August, 09. Paul, R. and Haq, A. (2010) Challenges of Water Quality Management: Case of Peripheral rivers in Dhaka Mega City, Proceeding of International conference on World Water Week, Stockholm, 05-11 September. Baten, A. M. et al. (2011) WATER SUPPLY OF DHAKA CITY: MURKY FUTURE, Dhaka: Unnayan Onneshan. Government of Bangladesh (2011) Population and Housing Census 2011, Dhaka: BBS. Alom, B. J. M. etal. Fire hazard categorization and risk assessment for Dhaka city in GIS framework, Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), vol.32(1), December 2013. Islam, M. M. etal. Fire Hazard Management of Dhaka City: Addressing Issues Relating to Institutional Capacity and Public Perception, Jahangirnagar Planning Review, vol.6, June 2008. The Daily Sun (2013) Report on Fire hazard vulnerability: A case study in Dhaka city, September,08. Government of Bangladesh (2010) Pollution Abatement Strategies for Rivers and Wetlands in and Around Dhaka City, Dhaka: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment & Forests. Ahmed, S. etal. APPLICABILITY OF AIR POLLUTION MODELING IN A CLUSTER OF BRICKFIELDS IN BANGLADESH, Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin, vol.13, Jan 2008. Zahur, M. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF DHAKA CITY: PUBLIC PRIVATE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, BRAC University Journal, vol.04(02), Jan 2007. The Daily Star (2013) Report on Traffic Congestion, February,26.
http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-08-09&nid=20047 http://ns.bdnews24.com/blog/en/index.php/zahid/523 http://www.demotix.com/news/1384081/water-logged-capital-during-monsoon-season#media1384065 http://www.wekipedia.org, http://www.newspriyo.com

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