Electricity Problem In Bangladesh

Electricity crisis has been a problem for the people of Bangladesh. The government policy on this issue is not right. I have some suggestions with a view to solving this problem. Everyone is invited to give more suggestions.

The people of Bangladesh have been suffering from lack of electricity for the last few years. Power distribution lines have been expanded to cover more consumers but production of electricity did not increase. The main reason behind this is corruption. The present government is doing the job of eliminating corruption. This will do good to the nation. But this will not solve the electricity crisis.

 There are some problems with the policy that was followed in the power sector. This sector was always under government control. Recently large scale investment from private sector was encouraged. But it did not solve the problem for various reasons. In the context of Bangladesh, this problem can easily be solved by micro enterprise or micro investment. For the success of that strategy, all types of taxes on the import and sale of generators below the capacity of 10 mega watts must be fixed at zero per cent. Banks should allow loans without mortgage for purchasing generators below 10 mw. This will create employment for the youth. They will be able to invest in small area-wise power production and distribution business. Low-priced electricity will strongly assist the boost up of cottage industry in the rural areas. Owners of these micro power plants will need employees for maintenance. In a small area, each household will be their customer and they will negotiate the price. The city corporation or the municipality will ensure the standard of service by regular inspection. This way the sufferings of the people from power shortage will decrease significantly. These investors should be exempted from income tax and vat for the first five years. This will certainly solve the power crisis. This will also provoke some self-seekers, whose interest is going to be hurt. The government should prevent them from doing anything harmful. The government should also encourage manufacturing of small capacity generators locally.

Unemployment Problem In Bangladesh

Arsesenic Problem In Bangladesh

Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic

in Bangladesh: a public healthemergency

AllanH. Smith,1 ElenaO. Lingas,2 & Mahfuzar Rahman3

The contamination of ground water by arsenic in Bangladeshis the largest poisoning of a population in history,with millions of people exposed. This paper describes the history of the discovery of arsenic in drinking-water in Bangladesh and recommends intervention strategies. Tube-wells were installed to provide ‘‘pure water’’ to prevent morbidity and mortality from gastrointestinal disease. The water from the million sof tube-wells that were installed was not tested for arsenic contamination. Studies in other countries where the population has had long-term exposure to arsenic in  groundwater indicate that 1 in10peoplewhodrinkwater containing500mgof arsenic per litre may ultimately die from cancers caused by arsenic, including lung, bladder and skin cancers. The rapidallocation of funding and prompt expansion of current interventions to address this contamination should be facilitated.The fundamental intervention is the identification and provision of arsenic-free drinking water.Arsenic is rapidly excreted in urine, and for early or mild cases, no specific treatment is required. Community education and participation are essential to ensure that interventions are successful; these should be coupled with follow-up monitoring to confirm that exposure has ended. Taken together with the discovery of arsenic in groundwater in other countries, the experience in Bangladesh shows that ground water sources throughout the world that are used for drinking-water should be tested for arsenic.

Keywords: Bangladesh; arsenic poisoning, prevention and control; arsenic poisoning, therapy; water pollution,

chemical, prevention and control; water treatment; environmental monitoring.

The first patients seen were from West Bengal, but by 1987 several had Bangladesh is grappling with the largest mass already been identified who came from neighbouring poisoning of a population in history because ground- Bangladesh. The characteristic skin lesions includedwater used for drinking has been contaminated with pigmentation changes, mainly on the upper chest,

naturally occurring inorganic arsenic. It is estimated arms and legs, and keratoses of the palms of the

that of the 125 million inhabitants of Bangladesh hands and soles of the feet (Fig. 1). After ruling out

between 35 million and 77 million are at risk of other causes,water sources used by the patients were

drinking contaminated water (1, 2). The scale of this analyzed, and the diagnosis of arsenic-caused disease

environmental disaster is greater than any seen was confirmed. The primary drinking-water sources

before; it is beyond the accidents at Bhopal, India, for the patients were tube-wells, which drew water

in1984, and Chernobyl,Ukraine, in1986.This paper from underground aquifers (Fig. 2)(6).

suggests guidelines for responding when a popular- Tube-well shave been used in Bangladesh since

tion is exposed to arsenic, and it is based on the 1940s (7). However, the problem of arsenic-

information from several visits to Bangladesh made contaminated water has only recently come to light

by Allan H. Smith as a consultant for the World due to the increasing number of tube-wells used over

Health Organization between 1997 and 1998 (3–5). the past 20 years and the subsequent increase in the

In1983, the first cases of arsenic-induced skin number of individuals drinking from them. Histori -

lesions were identified by K.C. Saha then at the cally, surface water sources in Bangladesh have been

Department of Dermatology, School of Tropical contaminated with microorganisms, causing a sig-

nificant burden of disease and mortality. Infants and 1 Professor of Epidemiology, 140WarrenHall, School of Public Health, children suffered from acute gastrointestinal disease University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA94720-7360, USA resulting from bacterial contamination of stagnant (email: ahsmith@uclink4.berkeley.edu). Correspondence should pond water. Consequently, during the 1970s the 2be addressed to this author. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)worked of  DCoacltifoorranliaR,eBseearkrcehleSyt,uUdSeAnt., School of Public Health, University with the Department of Public Health Engineering to 3 install tube-wells to provide what was presumably a International Fellow, Public Health Sciences Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh, Dhaka, safe source of drinking-water for the population. Bangladesh; Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, These wells consistof tubes that are5cmin diameter Faculty of Health Sciences, Linko¨ping University, Sweden. that are inserted into the ground at depths of usually Ref. No. 00-0751 lessthan200m.The tubes are then capped with a cast Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2000, 78 (9) #World Health Organization 2000 1093Special Theme– Environment and Health report for Bangladesh that it had surpassed its goal of providing80%of thepopulationby2000withaccess to ‘‘safe’’ drinking-water in the form of tube-wells, ring-wells and taps (8). Presently, three out of four tube-wells in Bangladesh are privately owned (7). Extent of exposure in the population In Bangladesh, arsenic contamination of water in tube-wells was confirmed in 1993 in the Nawabganj district (1). Further testing was done in the following years; this included investigations by the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health of the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine Results from various laboratories were collated in a WHO country situation report in 1996 (9). The institutions that provided results included the Jadavpur University in Calcutta, India, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Public Health Engineering’s laboratories in the Khulna and Rajshahi districts, and the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine in Dhaka. Altogether, 400measurementswerepresented in the report, although contamination in some wells was measured by more than one laboratory. In about half of the measurements concentrations were above 50 mg/l (9), which is clearly in excess of the Table 1. Percentage of ground waters surveyed in1998by the maximum level recommended by WHO of 10 mg/l British Geological Survey with arsenic levels over 50mg/l (10)and greater than the maximum level of 50 mg/l permitted in Bangladesh (7). District %of District %of To raise awareness of the seriousness of the ground waters ground waters arsenic problem in West Bengal and to draw attention surveyed surveyed to the need for studies in Bangladesh, a conference was convened in 1995 by D. Chakraborti and the Bagerhat 66 Madaripur 93 School of Environmental Studies of Jadavpur Barisal 63 Magura 19 University in Calcutta (11). In the years after the Brahmanbaria 38 Manikganj 15 conference, the extent of the problem in Bangladesh Chandpur 96 Meherpur 60 hasbecome clearer through additional surveysof the Chittagong 20 Moulvibazar 12 water and population, many of which were led by Chuadanga 44 Munshiganj 83 Comilla 65 Narail 43 Chakraborti. Cox’s Bazar 3 Narayanganj 24 A study conducted in the Rajarampur village of Dhaka 37 Nawabganj 4 the Nawabganj district, by the National Institute of Faridpur 66 Noakhali 75 Preventive and Social Medicine and the School of Feni 39 Pabna 17 Environmental Studies, found that 29% of the Gopalganj 94 Pirojpur 24 294 tube-wells tested had arsenic concentrations Jessore 51 Rajbari 24 greater than 50 mg/l (12). Between September 1996 Jhalakati 14 Rajshashi 6 and June 1997, a survey was jointly conducted by Jhenaidah 26 Satkhira 73 Dhaka Community Hospital and the School of Khulna 32 Shariatpur 80 Environmental Studies.An examination of 265wells Kushtia 28 Sylhet 19 in Samta village in the Jessore district found that Lakshmipur 68 about 91% of the wells had arsenic concentrations higher than50mg/l (13). In1998, a British Geological Survey of 41 districts collected 2022 water samples

iron or steel hand pump. At the time the wells were —35%were found to have arsenic concentrations

installed, arsenic was not recognized as a problem in above 50 mg/l (Table 1)and 8.4% were above

water supplies, and therefore standard water testing 300 mg/l (14). Based on population density mea-

procedures did not include tests for arsenic (7). sured in 1998, this group estimated that the number

During the 1980s, UNICEF’s support for of people exposed to arsenic concentrations above

installing tube-wells decreased because the private 50 mg/lwas about 21million.This number would be

sector was able to supply and install millions more of approximatelydoubledifWHO’sstandardof10mg/l

them(7). By 1997, UNICEF indicated in its country were adopted. Further studies conducted by the

1094 Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2000, 78 (9) Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh School of Environmental Studies and the Dhaka Community Hospital found that 59% of the 7800 groundwater samples had arsenic concentrations greater than 50 mg/l (15). In 1997 a project designed to establish the extent of the problem in a sample population was authorized by the government of Bangladesh. Two hundred villages that had already been identified as having arsenic-contaminated tube-wells were surveyed by the Rapid Action Programme. These villages had a combined population of 469424. About 62% of the 32651 tube-wells sampled had concentrations greater than 100mg/l (16). Surveys of the effects on the population’s health have occurred concurrently with the previous studies of groundwater contamination. From December 1996 to January 1997, a three-week survey was conducted by the Dhaka Community Hospital and the School of Environmental Studies. The survey teamvisited18 affected districts.Of the 1630 adults and children examined, 57.5% of them had skin lesions due to arsenic poisoning (11). In another study, approximately one-third of the 7364 patients examined had skin lesions due to arsenic (17).The population of the42affecteddistrictswas 76.9 million. These studies do not imply that the entire population is drinking contaminated water.

Population Problem in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a country of south-east Asia. It is well known as a developing country. There are many problems in this country, which are said to be major obstracles in the development of this country. Excessive  Population is said to be the worst among all current problems. If we compare to the global population we will see why population  causes such damage to the development of Bangladesh. The area of Bangladesh is near to 55 thousand square miles or 1,47,570 square kilometer. The current population of Bangladesh is approximately over 160 million and will exceed 200 million within 2020. The average population density per square kilometer is almost 1000. Even a very rich country would have been in deep troubles if they have to handle such mass population in such short land. So whenever the government tends to take any developing steps, they seems to fell into shortage of resources for such huge population. As a result the actual development is just getting being delayed an hampered a lot.

In the 1980s, Bangladesh faced no greater problem than population growth. Census data compiled in 1901 indicated a total of 29 million in East Bengal, the region that became East Pakistan and eventually Bangladesh. By 1951, four years after partition from India, East Pakistan had 44 million people, a number that grew rapidly up to the first postindependence census, taken in 1974, which reported the national population at 71 million. The 1981 census reported a population of 87 million and a 2.3 percent annual growth rate. Thus, in just 80 years, the population had tripled. In July 1988 the population, by then the eighth largest in the world, stood at 109,963,551, and the average annual growth rate was 2.6 percent. According to official estimates, Bangladesh was expected to reach a population of more than 140 million by the year 2000.

Bangladesh's population density provided further evidence of the problems the nation faced. In 1901 an average of 216 persons inhabited one square kilometer. By 1951 that number had increased to 312 per square kilometer and, in 1988, reached 821. By the year 2000, population density was projected to exceed 1,000 persons per square kilometer.

The crude birth rate per 1,000 population was 34.6 in 1981. This rate remained unchanged in 1985, following a 20-year trend of decline since 1961, when it had stood at 47 per 1,000. The rural birth rate was higher than birth rates in urban areas; in 1985 there were 36.3 births per 1,000 in the countryside versus 28 per 1,000 in urban areas. The crude death rate per 1,000 population decreased from 40.7 in 1951 to 12 per 1,000 in 1985; the urban crude death rate was 8.3, and the rural crude death rate was 12.9. The infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 111.9 in 1985, a distinct improvement from as recently as 1982, when the rate was 121.9. Life expectancy at birth was estimated at 55.1 years in 1986. Men and women have very similar life expectancies at 55.4 and 55, respectively. With an average life expectancy of 58.8 years, urban dwellers in 1986 were likely to live longer than their rural counterparts (average life expectancy 54.8 years). The sex ratio of the population in 1981 was 106 males to 100 females.

In the late 1980s, about 82 percent of the population of Bangladesh (a total of 15.1 million households) resided in rural areas. With the exception of parts of Sylhet and Rangamati regions, where settlements occurred in nucleated or clustered patterns, the villages were scattered collections of homesteads surrounded by trees. Continuous strings of settlements along the roadside were also common in the southeastern part of the country.

Until the 1980s, Bangladesh was the most rural nation in South Asia. In 1931 only 27 out of every 1,000 persons were urban dwellers in what is now Bangladesh. In 1931 Bangladesh had fifty towns; by 1951 the country had eighty-nine towns, cities, and municipalities. During the 1980s, industrial development began to have a small effect on urbanization. The 1974 census had put the urban population of Bangladesh at 8.8 percent of the total; by 1988 that proportion had reached 18 percent and was projected to rise to 30 percent by the year 2000.

In 1981 only two cities, Dhaka and Chittagong, had more than 1 million residents. Seven other cities--Narayanganj, Khulna, Barisal, Saidpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Comilla--each had more than 100,000 people. Of all the expanding cities, Dhaka, the national capital and the principal seat of culture, had made the most gains in population, growing from 335,928 in 1951 to 3.4 million in 1981. In the same period, Chittagong had grown from 289,981 to 1.4 million. A majority of the other urban areas each had between 20,000 and 50,000 people. These relatively small towns had grown up in most cases as administrative centers and geographically suitable localities for inland transportation and commercial facilities. There was no particular concentration of towns in any part of the country. In fact, the only large cities close to each other were Dhaka and Narayanganj.