Environmental Pollution:
Nature, air, water, land and all other things around us in which we live are called environment. Any unexpected and abnormal change in chemical, physical and biological characteristics in environment is called the environmental pollution. Now our environment is getting polluted every moment in many ways. In major cities and towns motor vehicles, mills and factories are creating fume and smoke and they pollute air. Man makes fires to cook food, to make bricks, to melt tar for road construction and to do many other things. Fires create smoke and pollute the air. Railway engines and powerhouses create smoke by burning coal and oil and this smoke pollutes the air. Water, another vital element of the environment like air, is also polluted in many ways. Man pollutes water by throwing waste into it. Chemicals, fertilisers and insecticides get mixed with water in rivers, canals and ponds, and thus pollute water. Mills and factories also throw their poisonous chemicals and waste products into rivers, canals and seas and water is polluted. Moreover, water vehicles, unsafe drains and unsanitary latrines are also responsible for water pollution. These days many rivers and lakes are getting filthy. Forests and trees are being cut down on a large scale. So, the ecosystem of the environment is now in great danger. The noise of motor vehicles, mills and factories, aeroplanes, domestic appliances, radios, cassette players, CDs, televisions etc pollutes sound and this polluted sound affects our hearing. The government must take effective steps to prevent the pollution. People of all classes should come forward to control this environmental pollution because it is necessary for our own existence.
Arsenic:
Arsenic pollution / problem has become one of the talked topics of our country at present. It has spread throughout whole Bangladesh in an epidemic form. Arsenic is a poisonous chemical element mixed with water. This poisonous element is found in ground water, such as tube-well water. In different countries, arsenic contamination in water supplies is known to have been caused by dissolving geological deposits which naturally occur from industrial discharges and from uses of pesticides. If a man drinks arsenic contaminated water, he is affected by disease and after many days the symptoms are found. The disease caused by arsenic is known as arsenicosis. Poisoning by arsenic is slow process. It damages the kidneys, the liver, the skin and even the nerves system of body. Long term poisoning might cause also death of the sufferers. Many people in our country are suffering from arsenicosis and many more are being affected everyday. For the prevention of arsenicosis, we should drink only arsenic-free water. Besides this, we have to eat a healthy and balanced diet. To ensure supply of arsenic-free water, we should sink deep tubewells. Water treatment plant should be established in the rural areas and the arsenic contaminated tubewells should be identified by red colour. We should remember that arsenic poison cannot be removed by boiling or filtering water. So, all of us should be conscious of arsenic poison and should be careful about using water. It is a hopeful matter that various agencies in the health and water sector such as NIPSOM, DPHE, BWDB and others have begun sampling well-water and looking for medical symptoms as evidence of arsenic contamination and its affected area and they are trying to solve the problem.
Load Shedding:
Load shedding has become a very common affair in our daily life these days. The people living in the areas supplied with electricity are quite familiar with the term load shedding. In the modern world electricity plays a very important role in regulating our life. Any interruption in the supply of this vital item of energy can put the whole system out of order and simultaneously can paralyse our daily activities. In our country there is hardly any area which is not affected by load shedding. Load shedding means the discontinuation of supply of electricity. Load shedding occurs when generation of power is less than the demand and when we distribute electricity wrongly. It creates many problems of far-reaching consequences in the economic and social development of the country. Most of the mills and factories become idle and for this reason industrial production declines and workers are retrenched. Social works and activities cannot go in order. Students cannot study properly because of the failure of electricity. During load shedding they are to study in dim candlelight. The housewife gropes in the darkness in the kitchen. The shops are to close down before the closing time. Spectators in the cinema hall spend hours in stuffy suffocation for load shedding. All types of productions stop and the entire life comes to a standstill during the period of load shedding. So, proper steps should be taken to stop load shedding. By establishing more power plants, power houses and by stopping unplanned distribution of electricity, illegal connection and reducing system loss, we can solve this problem.
Traffic Jam:
Nowadays traffic jam is a very common affair in urban life. It is one of the major problems of our country. This problem is the result of rapid growth of population and the augment of vehicles. Very often this problem occurs in the congested areas where the roads are very narrow. Traffic jam occurs for many causes. With the growth of our population roads do not increase. Most of the roads of our country are all the same. Moreover, day by day the number of licensed vehicles is increasing leaps and bounds that should be controlled with the strict rule. Most of the drivers are not willing to abide by the traffic rules and regulations. They always want to overtake other vehicles, which causes not only traffic jam but also serious accidents. Besides, in our country the number of traffic police is inadequate. At the office time traffic jam occurs in the congested areas even in the spacious area. Sometimes traffic jam occurs so largely that it blocks one kilometre. So, it kills our most valuable time that causes great sufferings to the ambulance bearing dying patients and the fire brigade vehicles. Besides, our desired works are very often hampered for traffic jam. This problem can be solved by constructing adequate spacious roads and highways and controlling the number of vehicles and following the traffic rules. The proportion of wide road should be made and one way movement of vehicles should be introduced. After all, everybody of us ought to abide by the traffic rules to continue a good traffic system for our own interests.