Health impact of development plans should also be assessed: Shaikh Faridul

Shaikh Faridul Islam, State Minister for Environment, Forest anad Climate Change addressing a discussion meeting of FEJB at the National Press Club on Wednesday

GreenWatch Desk

Dhaka, August 12, 2026 - State Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Shaikh Faridul Islam has called on all people to participate in environmentally friendly waste management to prevent pollution of rivers, soil and air.

Speaking at a discussion meeting titled 'Waste-Free Bangladesh: Our responsibility' organised by the Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) as the chief guest today, he asked journalists to publish more reports on environmental conservation and highlight shortcomings of government initiatives.

Shaikh Faridul Islam said the present government is working to find nature-based and environmentally friendly solutions to various problems. As examples, he mentioned the plans to plant 250 million trees, dig 20,000 kilometers of canals and launch electric buses.

The State Minister for Environment said that along with verifying the environmental impacts of development projects, health impacts should also be assessed to ensure good health of people.

The meeting, organised at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club under the chairmanship of Forum President Mostafa Kamal Majumdar, called for making Bangladesh healthy and habitable by properly managing waste and replenishing natural resources.

Keynote speaker of the discussion, Zakir Hossain Khan, Managing Director of Change Initiative, who spoke online from Malaysia, presented a picture of the mountains of garbage being built up in various sectors in the country and pointed out the way to reduce waste to zero by recycling, recovery and regeneration of resources through a circular economy.

Forum General Secretary and President of the National Press Club Hasan Hafiz, Forum Executive Member and General Secretary of the National Press Club Ayub Bhuiyan, Forum Executive Members Bulbul Ahmed, Shamima Chowdhury, Salahuddin Bablu, prominent human rights activist Nurul Huda Chowdhury, prominent thinker Shah Abdul Hannan and Photojournalist Tarif Rahman participated in the discussion.

The State Minister said no government allocation was used for planting trees this year. It was done from CSR and other district-level funds. The government wants to revolutionise the country through the tree planting program. In response to a question, he said there will be no exotic trees among the planned 250 million.

The State Minister mentioned the government's various initiatives to protect the environment and said that there are a total of 425 points of waste discharge from industrial factories in 5 rivers on 4 sides of Dhaka. These must be closed. He asked journalists to come forward for this.

He said to reduce Dhaka's air pollution; repair of roads within a short period of digging should be made mandatory.