The High Court today blasted the Department of Environment (DoE) and two Dhaka city corporations for their failure to prevent air pollution and dengue infection in the capital and surrounding areas despite its repeated directives.

"They (DoE officials) give permission to the owners to operate illegal brick kilns, which cause air pollution, as they are managed by the owners. They do not need fresh air because most of their children live abroad and get fresh air there," Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Khizir Hayat Lizu told the lawyers for DoE and DCC while hearing a writ petition.

The HC bench also said Dhaka city corporations could not control the dengue infection even after numerous people have died and have been affected due to its outbreak. They are not apparently trying to control the outbreak.

The court ordered the DoE and DCCs to comply with its previous directives to control the air pollution in Dhaka in the next two weeks and fixed December 11 for passing further orders on this issue.

Following the same petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), the HC in February 2021 ordered the Fire Service and Civil Defence to take necessary steps to spray water with its vehicles on roads at the entrances to the capital, including Gabotli, Jatrabari, Purbachal, Keraniganj, and Tongi, on an urgent basis.

The fire service will do the job without compromising their main duty of dousing flames, the HC said.

It ordered the managing director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) to take measures for supplying sufficient water to Dhaka city corporations for spraying on streets.

The court also asked the Dhaka north and south city corporations to spray water on streets in such a way that small trees planted on the central reservations can also benefit.

In January 2020, the HC had ordered the government to reduce air pollution in and around the capital and asked the DoE to shut illegal brick kilns in Dhaka and surrounding four districts -- Gazipur, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur, and Manikganj.

Today, HRPB's lawyer Manzill Murshid presented newspaper reports on "selling certificates to operate illegal brick kilns in Savar" and "present air pollution level" before the HC bench and sought necessary directives to this effect.

He told the HC bench that the Dhaka dwellers have reportedly got fresh air for only 47 days in the last eight years.

No effective measures were taken to control the air pollution in Dhaka and its surrounding areas despite this court's repeated directives, he said.

DoE's lawyer Muntasir Uddin Ahmed and Dhaka South City Corporation's lawyer Md Billal Hossain Lijohn told the HC that their clients have taken steps to comply with its directives.

Deputy Attorney General Sk Shafuzzaman represented the state during the hearing.