Enam: Actually, we have a lot of environmental problems in Bangladesh but mainly I'd say the soil contamination is quite bad, and also the air pollution and nowadays we also have water pollution because of tanneries in the cities.

 

Katia: So, tell me a little bit more about soil contamination?

 

Enam: Actually, we used to use a lot of polythene bags while shopping for the last ten or fifteen years, but the government has banned polythene two years ago I think but still, we still have a lot of polythene bags in our soil and the polythene bags, it doesn't go away, or it stays in the ground for more than a hundred years, and for that reason the soil loses its fertility and also even if you want to ... if you try to build buildings, you cannot build more than a certain level.

 

Katia: Alright, what about the air pollution? Is it a big problem?

 

Enam: Actually, yes, it is a big problem in the capital city in Dhaka because there are a lot of transports, like cars there, and some of them are very old, and it pollutes a lot and there's dust everywhere in Dhaka, so if you go out in Dhaka in the moring, you must have to take a shower at night.

 

Katia: Wow! That must be something else. In regards to air pollution, is there something being done to help the problem?

 

Enam: Yeah, actually, the government is taking a lot of steps like nowadays if you want to import second hand cars from other countries, it couldn't be older than six years, and they always check the transports that are being driven in Dhaka, and if it it is like bad to the environment, they just ban those transportation and tranports from Dhaka.

 

Katia: And you also mentioned water pollution. What is the situation with water pollution?

 

Enam: Actually, the situation is really bad, like the water we have supplied by the government as a infrastructure in Dhaka, it's really bad. The quality is really bad. You cannot drink that water, and if you want to use that water, you have to like bottle that water, and you have to add all this purification process to use the water. And also, we had some tanneries in the city, around the city, and the waste from those tanneries went into the river and it was quite a bad situation, then the government decided transfer these tanneries out of the city in another place, and it was mandatory for the tanneries to use some more technology to reduce the amount of waste they produce.

 

Katia: OK, that sounds good. I hope it will benefit the city.

 

Enam: Yes, I hope so.