As cities grow, local administrations struggle to manage mountains of waste

 

Residents of Bangladesh’s major urban centres continue to live with the consequences of unmanaged waste. 

From Sylhet to Cumilla, Bogura to Barishal, cities across Bangladesh are drowning in their own waste — and the people living beside the dumping grounds are paying the price

Ten years ago, Pabitra Biswas and other residents of Chhita Gotatikar in Sylhet depended on Bherera Beel for fish, rice and water. Several tonnes of fish were caught from the wetland each year, while farmers cultivated rice on around 2,000 acres of surrounding land. 

Today, Pabitra Biswas says, there is little left of that life

Waste from Sylhet City Corporation's dumping ground at Paraichak has spread across the beel and nearby haors. The remaining water has turned black, fish have disappeared and plastic now covers fields once cultivated by farmers. Even during the monsoon, residents can now cross much of the wetland on foot.

"If a farmer enters the haor, broken glass can cut his feet," Biswas said. "The haor and beel are filled with plastic."

The damage has gone beyond the loss of a wetland. At least five fishing villages surround the area, where local residents say about 90% of families once depended on fishing or fish farming. As the water and fish disappeared, many have been forced to change their occupations.

Sylhet's disappearing beel is one example of a larger crisis unfolding across Bangladesh's growing cities. From Cumilla and Barishal to Rajshahi and Khulna, hundreds of tonnes of waste are being collected every day, yet much of it eventually ends up beside households, rivers, farmland and wetlands. 

While authorities continue to announce recycling plants, new dumping grounds and waste-to-energy projects, residents remain surrounded by the smell, pollution and health risks of the unmanaged waste.

Cumilla: Living with a mountain of waste

On the road to the Bibir Bazar land port in Cumilla, a vast mound rises beside the road at Jhakunipara. From a distance, it can easily be mistaken for a hill.

Once you get closer, the stench reveals what it really is.

For more than a decade, waste collected from households, markets, factories and hospitals has been dumped there. With 400 to 450 tonnes added every day, the site has gradually turned into a mountain of rubbish.

There is no proper boundary wall to keep the waste inside. Plastic, food waste and other discarded materials spread beyond the dumping ground and reach nearby roads and households. Cattle and goats walk freely across the site. When the wind blows, the smell spreads through the surrounding villages.

Residents say they have been living with the problem for years. Around 30,000 to 35,000 people in at least 10 villages, including Jhakunipara, Daulatpur, Bajgadda, Khamar Krishnapur, Shuara, Jagannathpur, Nabagram and Balutupa, are believed to be affected.

Badiul Alam, a resident of Jhakunipara, said the dumping began when Cumilla was still a municipality. It continued after Cumilla City Corporation was formed in 2011.

"Tonnes of waste have been dumped here every day for the past 14 years. It has now become a huge mountain," he said. "Children and elderly people are suffering from skin diseases. Living here has become very difficult."

The waste has also affected the social lives of residents. Locals say families from outside the area are often unwilling to arrange marriages with people living near the dumping ground because of the stench and unhealthy environment.

In Cumilla, around Tk150 crore has reportedly been allocated with support from the Islamic Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to turn waste into usable resources. However, the money will not be released until the required land acquisition is completed.

City Corporation Administrator Yusuf Molla Tipu said another 10 acres of land has been acquired and a tender called for a recycling project.

Environmental officials remain concerned about the delay. 

Mosabber Hossain Mohammad Rajib, deputy director of the Department of Environment in Cumilla, said the city corporation had been repeatedly asked to stop dumping waste in the open.

"Assurances have been given, but there has been no effective solution," he said.

Bogura: In search of a permanent dump

A similar problem exists in Bogura, where the absence of a permanent dumping ground has left the newly expanded city without a clear waste management system.

Before 2007, residents used dustbins placed in different neighbourhoods. These were later removed, and mobile collection vans were introduced through community-based organisations. The vans carry household waste to transfer stations, from where trucks transport it to dumping areas.

Despite the collection system, rubbish can still be seen scattered across different parts of the city.

Moving rubbish from a neighbourhood to an open dumping ground may make the street look cleaner, but it transfers the burden to another community. People living near dumping grounds pay the price through polluted air and water, disease, damaged farmland, lost livelihoods and falling property values.

Bogura, which has a population of around 10 lakh in the former municipal area, produces at least 250 tonnes of waste a day. 

According to Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Said Ali, the amount was already around 280 to 300 tonnes when Bogura was a municipality. Following the expansion of the urban area, the total volume is likely to be higher. The bigger problem is that "the authorities do not have a permanent disposal site," he said.

Waste was previously dumped near the Karatoya River in Gokul. After facing objections over environmental damage, the authorities began taking it to an open area towards Kahaloo upazila.

Said Ali said an environment-friendly waste management system would be introduced, but a clear timeline or project details have not yet been provided.

Khulna: Waste beyond the collection system

In Khulna, the challenge is not only where the waste is dumped, but also how much of it remains uncollected.

According to Khulna City Corporation, around 1,200 tonnes of household and other waste are produced in the city every day. The corporation collects approximately 800 tonnes, most of which is taken to the Rajbandh dumping ground.

This means nearly 400 tonnes are left outside the formal collection system each day.

Some of the uncollected waste ends up in drains. During rainfall, plastic and other materials block the drainage system and contribute to waterlogging.

Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju acknowledged that the city was still struggling with waste management. He said a master plan was being prepared to modernise the system.

Until that plan is implemented, the city will continue to rely mainly on collecting mixed waste and carrying it to the dumping ground.

Rajshahi: A city without central sewerage

Rajshahi has developed a more organised collection network, but the city still lacks a complete system for processing both solid and liquid waste.

Household waste is collected by vans from the city's 30 wards and taken to 19 secondary transfer stations. Waste from markets and roads is collected in three shifts. At night, trucks carry it to the dumping yard near City Haat in Paba upazila.

The city produces around 450 tonnes of dry waste a day during summer and approximately 350 tonnes during winter. Almost all of it is dumped at the same site that has been used since the establishment of the city corporation.

The problem is more serious in the case of liquid waste.

Rajshahi has no central sewerage system. Household wastewater is discharged directly into drains, while sewage from many toilets also flows into the same drainage network. The untreated wastewater eventually flows into the Barnai River through several points, including Nawdapara, Khirshin, Bhugroil, Pakuria and Chowbaria. A smaller portion ultimately reaches the Padma River.

In some places, farmers use the polluted drain water on agricultural land.

Sheikh Md Mamun, chief conservancy officer of Rajshahi City Corporation, said the city's drainage system had been improved through a three-phase master plan. However, he admitted that treating the wastewater before releasing it or using it for agriculture would be better.

The city corporation has submitted a Tk1,500 crore project proposal to the government for modern waste management and resource recovery. It is also working on sanitation plans with support from Unicef.

Mymensingh: Waste collection improves, disposal lags

Mymensingh is expanding its door-to-door collection programme. Of the city's 33 wards, 20 are currently covered, according to City Corporation Administrator Rukonuzzaman Rokon.

Waste drums have also been installed near markets, educational institutions and important roads. An agreement with the hotel owners' association allows the corporation to collect hotel waste directly.

The city is also in discussions with a private company to manage medical waste.

However, residents and travellers still face severe discomfort near the long-used dumping site beside the road close to Patgudam Bridge. The area was once largely empty, but settlements have since been built nearby. The road is also used daily by people travelling from Mymensingh to Sherpur, Netrakona and Kishoreganj.

The corporation has built a boundary wall around the site and is looking for a more isolated location. It is also discussing waste-to-energy and organic fertiliser projects with Chinese and Korean companies.

Officials say they are watching the performance of a similar project at Aminbazar in Dhaka before taking a final decision.

In Narayanganj, the original dumping ground at Al Amin Nagar became full after around 13 years of use. The city corporation began dumping waste in Jalkuri, Siddhirganj, in September 2024.

Waste from the city and Siddhirganj zones is now taken there, while waste from the Kadamrasul or Bandar zone is dumped beside a bridge in Madanganj. Around 36 trucks are used for waste collection and transportation across the city.

A waste-to-energy project had been planned for the Jalkuri site, but the initiative did not succeed under the previous government.

Alamgir Hiron, chief conservancy officer of Narayanganj City Corporation, said no immediate decision had been taken to revive the project. Any major new initiative would require approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.

Barishal: The cost of living next to waste

In Barishal, residents living near the Moylakhola dumping station in Kaunia Puranpara say the site has turned into a source of constant fear.

Established around two decades ago, the dumping ground now stands close to a densely populated area. Around 3,000 permanent residents live nearby, while another 500 families live in Kaunia Housing, only about 40 yards away.

There are nine educational institutions and around a dozen mosques in the surrounding area.

Residents complain of strong smells, flies and mosquitoes. They say children are suffering from breathing problems, allergies and skin diseases. Some families have already left the area, while property values have fallen.

The dumping of hazardous hospital waste alongside general rubbish has made the situation worse.

Barishal City Corporation Administrator Advocate Bilkis Akter Jahan Shirin said the authorities planned to buy land outside the city and establish a modern waste management facility there.

For residents, however, such promises bring little relief until the dumping ground is actually removed.

Sylhet: From wetland to waste

The environmental cost is perhaps most visible in Sylhet, where city waste has spread beyond the dumping ground and into wetlands, agricultural land and fishing areas.

The Paraichak dumping ground in Dakshin Surma stands beside Bherera Beel. Local residents say the wetland was once an important source of fish, rice and water for at least 10 nearby villages.

Today, much of it is filled with waste and grass. The remaining water is black, and aquatic life has largely disappeared.

Shamim Kabir, a resident of Gangaramer Chak, said around 15 acres of the nearly 20-acre wetland had already been filled. Residents of five or six nearby haor areas have also been affected.

Sylhet produces around 500 tonnes of waste every day, but only 250 to 300 tonnes are collected and carried to the Paraichak site.

In February 2024, the city corporation and LafargeHolcim Bangladesh opened a Tk16 crore material recovery facility to separate reusable materials from mixed waste. The plant currently separates plastic and polythene, with around 50 to 70 tonnes sent to the Lafarge cement factory in Chhatak for use as alternative fuel.

Yet much of the remaining waste continues to pile up at the dumping ground. During rainfall, waste and black liquid spread into nearby wetlands and farmland.

City officials say a boundary wall has now been built and that waste no longer spreads as widely as before. They acknowledge, however, that some waste may overflow during the monsoon.

Discussions are also underway with the environment ministry and a Chinese company about producing electricity from waste. Officials have mentioned biomining as a possible way to process waste accumulated over the past 20 to 30 years, but the technology would require substantial investment.

The experiences of these cities show that waste collection alone is not waste management.

Moving rubbish from a neighbourhood to an open dumping ground may make the street look cleaner, but it transfers the burden to another community. People living near dumping grounds pay the price through polluted air and water, disease, damaged farmland, lost livelihoods and falling property values.

Modern plants and large projects may be part of the solution. But cities also need waste separation at source, safe handling of medical waste, proper treatment of liquid waste, regular collection and secure dumping sites that do not destroy rivers, wetlands or neighbourhoods.

For now, the gap between daily waste generation and the capacity to manage it continues to grow. And with every passing day, another truckload is added to the mountains.