Title of the Research Paper

LITTERING IN DHAKA CITY

Prepared by:

Mehnaz Ahmed Khan

ID: 1610168033
Section: 7

Prepared for:

Dr. Deena P. Forkan

Professor
Department of English and Modern Languages

Course Title: Advanced Composition (ENG105)

Date of Submission: 16th of April, 2018
 Acknowledgement

The research paper was completed with the help of many people without whom would have

been a lot more burdensome. First, I would love to thank my beloved course instructor

Professor Deena P. Forkan whose precise guidance and constant effort allowed us to finish my

research paper in prescribed time. In the entire semester I learnt a lot from her and willing to

implement the knowledge she passed on us. My utmost appreciation and respect goes to all the

people who have participated in the survey and research paper specially my elder brother Fahim

Uddin Shuvo who invariably inspired me and restored my strength in difficult times. Last but

not the least, I would love to praise and appreciate all the efforts of my parents in the entire

semester to support me in every aspects possible.

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 Abstract

This research paper is focused on the underlying causes of littering in Dhaka City that takes

place every day to a great extent. The paper tried to identify whether it is the behavioural issues

of the city dwellers, inadequate infrastructural complications of City Corporations or it is a

assortment of both the concerns. For this research 43 people from different aspects of socio-

economic structure aged between 16 to 40 with a sufficient level of education participated in

the survey. In addition, the research is backed by secondary data in order to attain a broader

perspective. In the research paper efforts have been made to quantify the data along with tabular

and graphical representation of pie charts, column charts, bar charts and their respective

analyses. From the research, it was evident that indeed the underlying reasons of littering in

this city is the behavioural pattern of the city dwellers but not entirely. A hefty share of the

liability goes to the City Corporations which is being supported by the primary and secondary

research.

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 Table of contents

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 1

Background ………………………………………………………………………… 2

Areas of Research ………………………………………………………………….. 3

Hypothesis ………………………………………………………………………….. 5

Research Methodology ……………………………………………………………... 6

Primary data presentation and analysis …………………………………………….. 10

Secondary data presentation and analysis ………………………………………….. 23

Research findings …………………………………………………………………... 28

Limitations …………………………………………………………………............. 29

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………. 30

References ………………………………………………………………………….. 31

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Introduction:

In accordance with the course requirement, the topic of my research is ‘Littering in Dhaka

City’. I chose this topic as I always felt a social concern and curious to know exactly what

possible factors could be behind the littering process. As we all know littering in Dhaka City

is a social and culturally accepted behaviour. However, we always blame City Corporations

and others around us while running away from our own share of responsibilities. I always felt

like it was mostly the behavioural pattern of the city dwellers, which causes this huge

generation of daily junk and waste leaving our environment degrading in a detrimental manner.

Further, when I got into the details of my research I found that the condition of the city that we

live in is very pathetic and still we are ignorant of this dire issue. The City Corporation is

constructively criticised by the urban experts and the law enforcement agency, is also

responsible for this massive littering that is being generated none other than but us. We do not

dump wastes or trashes in our living rooms, not even in our cars but the very streets that we

walk through every day is spoiled by us.

1
Background:

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh scored 38.7 out of the ideal score of 100 in Global

Liveability Index in 2017 retaining the fourth position in least liveable cities out of 140

countries since 2011. According to a waste concern study, around 4,500 tons of household

wastes are generated in Dhaka every day though DNCC (Dhaka North City Corporation) and

DSCC (Dhaka South City Corporation) claims the number to be 500 tons. The types of littering

that usually takes place in Dhaka City are water bottles, filters of cigarettes, wrappers of gums,

packets of chips, paper bags, organic food items, tissue papers, animal innards, clothes,

inorganic wastes, etc. Experts believe factors like lack of consciousness among city dwellers,

ineffective laws and unmindful policy makers and infrastructural insufficiency leads towards

the littering in Dhaka City. The authorities of DNCC (Dhaka North City Corporation) and

DSCC (Dhaka South City Corporation) had vowed to change the city into an unpolluted,

habitable, green, digital and smart capital. Unfortunately, they could not fulfil their promise.

(Islam, 2018, n.p.) Many municipality and urban experts specifically pointed out that the

littering takes place in the city mostly because of the inhabitants. They act very inconsiderate

and ignorant when it comes to waste dumping which the experts suggested could be organized

through anti-littering laws and enforcement of those laws accordingly.

2
Areas of Research:

My primary and secondary data refer to the following areas of research to examine the accuracy

of my hypothesis.

1. The surface level understanding and current scenario of the littering conditions in Dhaka

City: According to my primary data people have a certain level of understanding of the littering

process and its possible consequences. According to a waste concern study, around 4,500 tons

of household wastes are generated in Dhaka every day though DNCC (Dhaka North City

Corporation) and DSCC (Dhaka South City Corporation) claims the number to be 500 tons.

Municipality experts believe that lack of consciousness among city dwellers, policy makers

and city authorities, and lack of infrastructural support triggers this huge amount of waste

production every day. (Islam, 2018, n.p.)

2. Awareness of City Corporation regarding the current scenario of littering and their initiatives

to improve the current littering conditions: From my secondary research, I found that City

Corporations are very much aware of the fact of littering in Dhaka City. Both the city

corporations along with foreign donors and local government divisions tried to process solid

waste using modern procedures. DNCC embraced the 3R method – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

which is a 21 crore-taka project which failed because of inefficient management methods and

poor waste management system. (Islam, 2018, n.p.)

3. Awareness of the city dwellers and the role of socio-economic structure in contribution to

the littering process: According to my primary data analysis, city dwellers are somewhat

ignorant and inconsiderate towards the littering process and its possible consequences. From

the secondary data I found that generally people in the higher socio-economic structure litters

the most whereas the poor and the uneducated clean the streets. However, people from almost

3
all the classes are involved in the littering process as it is expected to be a socially and culturally

accepted behaviour.

4. The possible actions and formulation of plans that can be adopted to minimize littering in

Dhaka City: According to different urban experts, like Dr. Sarwar Jahan, a professor of Urban

and Regional Planning (URP) Department of BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering

Technology), told United News of Bangladesh that many countries across the world consider

littering as a social crime and penalise those who commit it. (“Experts find littering a behavioural

problem”, 2015, n.p.) Another specialist Dr Zaher pin pointed towards the problem as he

suggested to educate the children from school level that littering with a care free attitude is

very harmful and a bad practise. (United News of Bangladesh, 2009, n.p.) Improving the

cultural attitudes along with education and intervention of opinion leaders, social and political

leaders, enactment and enforcement of anti-littering laws, it is very much possible to dream

that one day our streets will be no less better than the streets of Singapore. (Masud, 2016, n.p.)

4
Hypothesis:

Judging from my own personal experiences over the years and reading various articles

regarding littering in Dhaka city I strongly believe that it is the behavioural pattern of the city

dwellers that causes this unnecessary littering. Though I also believe that the City Corporation

is partially responsible but yet I am very much affirmative in the fact that through my research

I am going to find that collective inconsiderate behaviour of the people is leading to this

hazardous city condition. In addition, I also believe if we generalize the problem, most of the

educated people will agree with my hypothesis.

5
Research Methodology:

In order to complete my research I gathered primary data along with secondary data. My

primary data basically came from the survey that I have conducted on 43 people from different

socio-economic structure but the participants were educated enough to read a questionnaire in

English language. My target group was general people given the nature of my topic. Among

those general participants were university students, office goers, homemakers and

entrepreneurs of age 16 to 40 years. I prepared my questionnaire keeping in my mind to attain

an insight of the surface level understanding of the general people, impression of the sincerity,

consciousness and to understand the observing nature of my participants. Most of the questions

in my questionnaire is multiple-choice questions with only one open-ended question. I tried to

be honest as much as possible while conducting the research. I conducted my primary research

by providing the questionnaire to my participants physically and through online. For

conducting the survey online, I used Google Form. The link of the Google Form is given below:

https://goo.gl/forms/WZqdPzins25huyWt1

My secondary research was heavily depended on the internet and online sources such as online

newspapers, blogs, news – portals, etc. For conducting the secondary research I used standard

search engines like Google. Some of the notable online newspapers and portals The Daily Star,

Dhaka Tribune, The Independent BD, Observer BD, The Daily Sun, etc. I also gathered

information from other people’s and organizations research papers published in online and

referenced accordingly. These sources of information basically helped to reach towards a

meaningful conclusion of my research.

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 Primary Data Table:

Total number of response: 43. Numbers inside the parenthesis indicates the number of times

the options were chosen by the participants.

1. Are you aware of the fact that how much Yes I’m aware and I Yes I’m aware and I No I’m not aware but No I’m not aware

littering in Dhaka City takes place everyday litter everyday don’t litter very yet I litter every day and I don’t litter

and how often do you litter? (10) often (0) very often (4)
(29)

23.3% 67.4% 0% 9.3%

2. According to you what is the possible Lack of awareness Habitual Lack of street trash bins Lack of fulfilment

reasons of littering in Dhaka City? among city dwellers behaviour (24) (5) of duties of City

(11) Corporation (3)

25.6% 55.8% 11.6% 7%

3. In what possible manner do you dispose Throw it wherever I feel Keep it to myself Dispose it anywhere but Others (1)

the waste while you are in the streets of like (6) until I find a if a waste bin is nearby

Dhaka? waste bin (22) would dispose in it (14)

14% 51.2% 32.6% 2.3%

4. What are the issues you encounter while Lack of trash bins The streets are Everyone does it so Others (0)

disposing waste on the streets of Dhaka? properly positioned already dirty so why what difference

(29) bother (10) would I make (4)

67.4% 23.3% 9.3% 0%

5. If waste bins are properly positioned in Yes, it’s easier that Yes because No, I don’t have to No, I don’t want to

every streets of Dhaka will you still dispose way (11) everyone will do it anymore (18) (11)

the waste the way you do it every day? anyway (3)

25.6% 7% 41.9% 25.6%

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6. What common type of litter do you see Filter of cigarettes Papers, plastic Household waste (0) All of them more or

mostly around you every day? (4) bottles, wrappers less (24)

(15)

9.3% 34.9% 0% 55.8%

7. Does it bother you that almost every major Yes as it looks No and I'm Yes, for functional No, in view of aesthetic

streets of Dhaka City is dirty? unpleasant (33) least bothered reasons it does (8) reasons it doesn't (0)

(2)

76.7% 4.7% 18.6% 0%

8. What do you think the possible Do not have enough Creation of Soil and air pollution is Roads and sewage gets

consequences of this littering could be in knowledge Landfills taking place (13) clogged (17)

Dhaka City? regarding the which is

subject (5) hazardous to

public health

(8)

11.6% 18.6% 30.2% 39.5%

9. Who could be primarily responsible for City Corporation (1) City dwellers City Corporation and City Others (0)

littering in Dhaka City? mostly (9) dwellers both (33)

2.3% 20.9% 76.7% 0%

10. Do you wish to see a clean, waste free Yes for functional reasons Yes for aesthetic reasons (11) No, least bothered about the

Dhaka City? (32) fact (0)

74.42% 25.58% 0%

11. What possible changes you expect to take I expect the City I expect to I expect Government to impose I do not expect

place to see a clean Dhaka city? Corporation to change fines and make new laws (19) anything to take

make it happen (4) peoples’ place at all (0)

attitude

towards

littering habit

(20)

9.3% 46.5% 44.2% 0%

8
12. What effective actions can be taken to Development in Social media Imposing heavy fines Others (3)

reduce this littering process in Dhaka City? infrastructure of waste campaigns for for littering (21)

management (14) awareness (5)

32.6% 11.6% 48.8% 7%

13. Do you think it is necessary to raise Yes, it is very important for Yes, it will help reduce the No, it won’t have any impact

awareness among people to change the habit healthy environment (30) littering process to some on people as they are

of littering anywhere? extent (13) reluctant (0)

69.77% 30.23% 0%

14. Which method of communication do you Online (30) TV (9) Radio (0) Print Media (4)

think will be appropriate in order to raise

69.8 % 20.9% 0% 9.3%
awareness among the city dwellers?

15. In what possible manner do you think This is an open-end question and every individual had different answers.

people can actively participate in order to

change the current scenario of waste

management and littering in Dhaka City?

Please explain briefly.

9
Primary Data Presentation and Analysis:

This section examines and analyses the findings of my primary data attained through my

survey. This section does not include all the questions of my survey but includes only those

questions which are of utmost important to reach the conclusion whether the hypothesis I

believed to be true is actually true or not. The most important questions are given below:

Figure 1: Are you aware of the fact that how much littering in Dhaka City takes place every day and how often do

you litter?

For getting an insight of the surface level understanding, my first question towards the

participants were that if they are aware of the fact that how much littering in Dhaka City takes

place every day and how often they litter.

The answer of the question is represented in a pie chart where the percentage of the

respondents are shown in respective segments. Here one of the option is not chosen by any of

the respondents hence it is not being shown in the pie chart.

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In the pie chart as we can see among all the options majority of the people which is 67.4% (29

out of 43) chose that they are aware of the littering process and they try not to litter as much as

possible. And the second largest segment is the blue portion of the pie chart comprising of

23.3% (10 out of 43) said they are aware and they litter every day even after knowing how

much littering takes place in Dhaka City. 9.3% of the people (4 out of 43) are not aware but

these people felt the social responsibility and they do not litter very often. There is not a single

people responded out of 43 participants that they are not aware and that is why they litter every

day. This definitely proves people more or less are conscious about the intensity of littering

process and yet some chose to do it anyway (23.3%) without any heed. Well most of the

participants try not to litter (67.4%) and they make an effort for that which is why they do not

litter very often. The rest are not even aware of this sensitive issue at all. This question helped

me conclude if the people are aware of the issue or not as it will help me to narrow down further

to reach towards the conclusion that if my hypothesis is correct or invalid.

11
The second question that I presented on the questionnaire was according to the participants

what could be the possible reasons of littering that takes place in Dhaka City every day. The

results are presented in a column chart below.

Figure 2: According to you what is the possible reasons of littering in Dhaka City?

In the column chart, it shows the percentage of people responding respectively towards the

given options. 55.80% (24 out of 43) people agreed that it is in fact the habitual behavioural

issues of the city dwellers as we don’t litter in our homes or in our expensive vehicles but we

do it on the streets of Dhaka deliberately being inconsiderate about the well-being of the

environment. 11 partakers out of 43 responded that it is the lack of awareness among city

dwellers of the possible consequences of intense littering which comprises of 25.60% and these

people are aware that the other citizens are not mindful about this dire issue. 11.60% felt that

there is not enough trash bins placed in different parts of the city which actually forces the city

dwellers to leave their mess wherever they feel like. Only 3 out of 43 which is 7% of the

participants blamed the City Corporation for not fulfilling their duties because of which there

is still enough junk and trash found on the streets. The responds of this certain question

supported my hypothesis accordingly.

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In order to get an impression of the sincerity, my third question towards the participants was

how do they dispose waste when they are on the streets of Dhaka. The responds were presented

in a pie chart along with the percentage of people choosing their preferred option.

Figure 3: In what possible manner do you dispose the waste while you are in the streets of Dhaka?

The majority of the participants which is 51.2% chose that they keep it to themselves until they

find a waste bins which actually shows that they try not to litter in the streets and they make a

highest effort. The second leading portion of the pie chart shows 32.6% of the people actually

litter because there is lack of trash bins properly positioned so they leave their mess anywhere.

The blue portion of the pie chart comprises of 14% people who chose the option very honestly

which is much appreciated for a research like this. They feel like throwing wherever they want

and combining the blue portion and the yellow portion (32.6%+14%) I concluded that it is

actually the blend of behavioural and irresponsibility of City Corporations together is

contributing the increase of junk and trash every day. Out of 43 respondents, only one

participant replied that he keeps the waste to himself if he cannot find any trash bins near and

take it to home and dispose it. We need more people like that participant.

13
To comprehend the consciousness of the participants my fourth question towards them was

what issues they face when they dispose wastes on the streets of Dhaka. The respond of the

question is expressed in a pie chart given below along with respective percentages of the

options chosen.

Figure 4: What are the issues you encounter while disposing waste on the streets of Dhaka?

Among the options provided 67.4% of the responded that the trash bins provided by the City

Corporations is not positioned properly which is one of the prime reason for littering in Dhaka

City. 23.3% of the participants were ignorant of the trash bins existence as they feel like the

streets are already dirty so how much will it hurt if they make it more dirty being insensible

about the health hazards that can occur in the environment. 9.3% of the participants acted upon

conformity as every one of us are littering on a daily basis so they felt that their little sensibility

is too insignificant in the vast perimeter of insensibility.

14
In order to get into the details of my research my fifth question towards the participant was that

if the waste bins are properly positioned by the City Corporations in every streets of Dhaka

will they still dispose the waste the way they do it regularly and the pie chart shows the responds

of the survey in percentage of the presented options.

Figure 5: If waste bins are properly positioned in every streets of Dhaka will you still dispose the waste the way you do it

every day?

Shockingly 25.6% of the people responded that they would still litter the streets even after the

trash bins are properly positioned as it is comfortable for them to do so. Another 7% without

having a second thought is willing to do the same as their justification is that every other city

dwellers will do it and they have no issue doing it so. Affirmatively 41.9% felt the relief of

guilt of littering and responded that they don’t have to do it anymore which proved they were

bound to litter regularly. The remaining 25.6% responded as they don’t want to dispose in the

manner they used to before as they have a solution now for unnecessary littering.

15
To understand the observing nature of my participants my sixth question was what common

types of litter do they encounter on a daily basis. The result of my findings are formulated in a

bar graph which is given below.

Figure 6: What common type of litter do you see mostly around you every day?

From the survey it is seen that only 9.3% of the participant observed that there are filters of

cigarettes but we all know near any bus stations, rail stations, markets, road side tongs majority

of the waste materials comprises of filters of cigarettes. 34.9% of the participant observed that

mostly it is the papers, plastic bottles, wrappers are found on the streets, which is absolutely

precise as we can see most of the waste materials found, from the roads of highways to the

residential areas are mostly papers, plastic bottles and wrappers. None of the participant

observed any household waste in the streets and 55.80% agreed that the waste materials found

on the streets are the combination of all these options which basically allowed me to realize

that my participants are good observant.

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This specific question that I asked to my participants just to have an idea of how they feel like

living in this city of litter and how does it affect them. The respond is presented in the following

pie chart along with percentages of the options selected.

Figure 7: Does it bother you that almost every major streets of Dhaka City is dirty?

The blue portion of the pie chart which includes 76.7% of the participants to choose the option

that it actually bothers them of this unpleasant scenario. Only 18.6% realized the functional

reasons and responded based on that. Astonishingly 4.7% of the respondent chose that they are

least bothered with the fact that the streets filled with waste and junk materials. This again

shows the behavioural pattern of the city dwellers that how much inconsiderate they can appear.

17
I also felt like questioning my participant regarding the possible consequences of littering in

Dhaka City to understand how they perceive their role as a citizen. The result of my findings

are presented in a pie chart below along with the percentage of the chosen options.

Figure 8: What do you think the possible consequences of this littering could be in Dhaka City?

11.6% of the people responded that they do not have enough knowledge regarding the subject

matter. Remaining 88.4% (30.2% + 18.6% + 39.5%) are aware in their own understanding

which tells us the littering process is conscious. 18.6% are actually aware of the Landfill

creation which is very harmful for us when we consider the impacts. 30.2% are aware that this

certain uneducated waste dumping can cause both soil and air pollution. 39.5% are concerned

of the fact that this littering can cause roads and sewage to get clogged as it causes water

logging during rainy seasons making our life severely difficult.

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In my research, I also wanted to know what people think that who is primarily responsible for

littering in Dhaka City. The survey results are presented in a bar chart where the percentage of

the participants responding certain options are given below.

Figure 9: Who could be primarily responsible for littering in Dhaka City?

From the above bar chart we can see the participants responded that it is primarily the fault of

the city dwellers and City Corporations both comprising of 76.70% which clearly supports my

hypothesis very accurately. 20.90% of the participants blamed the city dwellers only for

littering in the streets and only 2.30% believes that it is the fault of City Corporations alone for

this junkyard. These percentages clearly demonstrates that it is primarily the error of the city

dwellers and partially City Corporations and majority of the people claimed that it is the flaw

of both city dwellers and City Corporations clearly allowing me reach the conclusion with my

hypothesis being valid.

19
In order to know what sort of changes people expect to take place, I included a question to see

how my participants respond if they expect to see a clean Dhaka City. The findings of the

question posed is represented in a pie chart below.

Figure 10: What possible changes you expect to take place to see a clean Dhaka city?

Affirmatively people are also aware that it is a behavioural concern that should be rehabilitated

as 46.5% expect to change people’s attitude towards littering habit which again conforms with

my hypothesis. 44.2% of the people believe that imposing heavy fines and making new laws

can help to reduce the inconsiderate behaviour of the city dwellers. Only 9.3% believes that

the City Corporation is capable to make waste free Dhaka possible. However, the majority of

the people identified that it is the behaviour we need to fix to see a better Dhaka, better

environment just the way I have proposed my hypothesis in the subject matter.

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In my research, I also wanted to know what sort of effective actions could be taken to reduce

this littering process in Dhaka City from my participants. The pie chart given below says the

result along with percentage of the options chosen by the participants.

Figure 11: What effective actions can be taken to reduce this littering process in Dhaka City?

According to my survey, I found that 48.8% are in the favour of imposing heavy fines for

littering which clearly directs that people are imbecile and ignorant and they should be kept on

the leash with heavy fines that again points out the behavioural concern ending into a decision

supporting my hypothesis. Also 32.6% believe that the infrastructure of waste management

system should be developed which means the City Corporation is not capable enough to handle

the current situation that also supports my hypothesis as I have mentioned that the City

Corporation is partially responsible for this littering process in Dhaka City. 11.6% felt that this

issue should be taken to social media to create awareness among people living in the city. 2.3%

felt that development in infrastructure of waste management and social media campaign should

be done together and another 2.3% suggested that social media campaign and imposing heavy

21
fines for littering should be taken into consideration. Additional 2.3% felt that a combination

of all the above mentioned options can be taken in action to reduce the littering process in

Dhaka City.

As a part of my research I also wanted to know which method of communication to create

awareness among the city dwellers is feasible in accordance to my participants. The result of

my findings are presented in a column chart given below along with respective percentages of

the options chosen.

Figure 12: Which method of communication do you think will be appropriate in order to raise awareness among the city

dwellers?

From the graph we can see that 69.80% of the participants chose the option online

communication through which raising awareness will be effective. 20.90% selected TV as

another method to reach general public for awareness and 9.30% chose print media like

newspapers to deliver the message. Unfortunately, none of the participants chose or believed

that radio could be an effective source of communication.

22
Secondary Data Presentation and Analysis:
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh scored 38.7 out of the ideal score of 100 in Global

Liveability Index in 2017 retaining the 4th position in least liveable cities out of 140 countries

since 2011. Littering in Dhaka City is a very common scenario and also a socially and culturally

accepted behaviour. (Mahmood, 2017, n.p.)

According to a waste concern study, around 4,500 tons of household wastes are generated in

Dhaka every day though DNCC (Dhaka North City Corporation) and DSCC (Dhaka South City

Corporation) claims the number to be 500 tons. Municipality experts believe that lack of

consciousness among city dwellers, policy makers and city authorities, and lack of

infrastructural support triggers this huge amount of waste production every day. (Islam, 2018,

n.p.)

According to urban experts like Dr. Abduz Zaher of Dhaka University littering in sprawling

cities is a great problem. Littering reduces the beauty of a city and also affects the overall

environment negatively. According to barrister Ahsan Habib, if everyone starts collecting x

amount of litter everyday then wastes will be gone in no time. (United News of Bangladesh,

2009, n.p.)

A renowned urban expert Professor Nazrul Islam addressed littering as a very crucial cultural

and habitual problem. We do not litter in our houses or places we are not allowed to but if we

look around we litter almost everywhere. This has to be stopped through campaigns and

religious understandings. He further added that general public need to be law abiding citizens

as we can see in Dhaka Cantonment area people are basically scared to litter. The professor

also focused on the most important part that is education. He advised for teaching children in

their academic curriculum that littering is a behavioural problem and it is a social crime that

23
must be rehabilitated through learning and building healthy habits. (United News of

Bangladesh, 2015, n.p.)

From my secondary research, I found that City Corporations are very much aware of the fact

of littering in Dhaka City. A former Dhaka City Corporation employee blamed the motorists

and pedestrians as a major contributor of littering process generating 30% to 55% waste. The

remaining arrives from commercial, household, uncovered trucks, etc. The wind also carries

the garbage which are not properly disposed causes littering too. (United News of Bangladesh,

2009, n.p.)

Also in a news covered in Dhaka Tribune that DNCC (Dhaka North City Corporations) and

DSCC (Dhaka South City Corporations) thousands of dustbins that were installed at a cost of

8000 taka per unit in different parts of the city, about 80% of the municipal dustbins are

missing. Residents blamed the City Corporations as the dustbins got stolen because of their

negligence. The remaining dustbins are not properly maintained which as a result is not much

effective in reducing littering. In addition, the City Corporation workers are very much

reluctant to work and some of the dustbins were never cleaned and it remains as it is from the

very first day of instalment. As a result, the drug addicts in the streets steal these dustbins and

sell those for drugs. From the news I came to know that DSCC alone spent 4 crore taka for

installing 5,700 dustbins and DNCC spent 70 lakh taka for installing 1000 dustbins in different

littering prone areas of the city. Both the city corporations along with foreign donors and local

government divisions tried to process solid waste using modern procedures. Also DNCC

embraced the 3R method – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle which is a 21 crore taka project and

that failed too because of inefficient management methods and poor waste management system.

In that news DNCC Chief Waste Management Officer Commodore M Abdur Razzak told that

the City Corporation is liable for managing solid waste only and there are other agencies to

manage waste at the site which implies that City Corporation alone is not willing to take the

24
blame. He also said that public are not aware about keeping the environment healthy so they

do not use the dustbins even if they were properly placed. He further added that City

Corporations have long-term strategy for creating public awareness through campaigns and

giving the best effort in keeping the city clean. (Islam, 2018, n.p.)

The two mayors of Dhaka City called upon their citizens to work collaboratively in keeping

the city clean. But unfortunately none of the citizens paid any heed towards the call be it

because of slothfulness or ignorance. When it rains and the city streets are clogged everyone

starts blaming the Government. As a citizen, we have responsibilities too. It is not always the

entire share of responsibility is on the shoulder of Government and we tend to avoid the sharing

part. We complain and strive for our rights but we do not try to realize and act accordingly in

order to secure our rights. In the constitution, Article number 21 clearly confers the duty upon

every citizen to maintain discipline and to protect public property. So littering basically violates

our constitutional rights. Every year during Eid-ul-Azha we sacrifice cows and goats on the

open streets and as a result animal blood, innards and wastes are seen almost every streets in

the city. The religion itself teaches that cleanliness is a part of faith. Now these animal organic

wastes are thrown into dustbins and drains which after sometime rots and causes soil and air

pollution severely affecting our city environment. (Khan, 2017, n.p.) Unfortunately, people

living in this city are very individualistic in a sense that majority of the people will never think

of dumping a packet of chips or gum wrapper on their living rooms or disposing a bag full of

debris into their own yard but these same people do not think twice to dump trashes in parks,

footpaths, roads and highways and parking space. (United News of Bangladesh, 2009, n.p.)

According to Dr. Sarwar Jahan, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Department

of BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology), told United News of

Bangladesh (UNB) that many countries across the world consider littering as a social crime

and penalise those who commit it. He suggested that Dhaka should also consider littering as a

25
social crime and make anti-littering laws and implement accordingly. He added that during the

early years of expansion in Singapore they faced similar issues like Dhaka in the context of

littering. But they managed to overcome the issue with implementation of strict anti-littering

laws and effective social awareness and proposed government to follow that. He further added

that City Corporations should place trash bins near litter prone areas and also compel the shop

owners to keep their respective zones clean and place trash bins near their shops so that

customers can dump the wastes. Another urban expert Nazrul Islam also claimed that littering

is a cultural issue as people deliberately litter with a carefree attitude. Such attitude should be

addressed negatively and raise different community based awareness campaign. (“Experts find

littering a behavioural problem”, 2015, n.p.)

Another specialist Dr Zaher pin pointed towards the problem as he suggested to educate the

children from school level that littering with a carefree attitude is very harmful and a bad

practise. The children should be taught how to dispose what type of waste along with

organizing different workshops, presentations, engaging in social activities, conferences to

raise awareness among young minds and teachers too. (United News of Bangladesh, 2009,

n.p.)

School students should be taught that littering is the cause of a behavioural issue and can

actively participate in cleaning their own school. Also university students can organize

campaigns to encourage healthy behaviour for reducing littering in the city streets.

Since littering is basically a harmful habit so Government can take initial steps for national

wake up campaigns which will be far more effective than occasional media campaign along

with visible activities such as clean up campaign to make changes on the ground level.

Businesses can contribute as a part of their corporate social responsibility for different

campaigns. Using improved and modern technological solutions such as geographical

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information systems in order to map and plan waste management system can also be taken into

consideration. Also the small shop owners can keep their respective shops and areas clean and

place trash bins so that consumers can dump their trashes in the waste bins. People should be

educated that how non-biodegradable wastes should be separated from roadsides, canals, rail

tracks, marshes, etc.

In summation, improving the cultural attitudes along with education and intervention of

opinion leaders, social and political leaders, enactment and enforcement of anti-littering laws,

it is very much possible to dream that one day our streets will be no less better than the streets

of Singapore. (Masud, 2016, n.p.)

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Research Findings:

After analysing my primary and secondary data it is evidently clear that indeed littering in

Dhaka City is caused due to inconsiderate and imbecile behavioural pattern of the city dwellers

along with City Corporations being partially responsible for the mess. From my research, I can

perceive that people are basically aware of the fact of littering and even majority of the

participants during the survey admitted that it is the behavioural issue. Although a great

percentage of the people in the survey try not to litter but they are forced to do so because of

the lack of duties fulfilled by the City Corporation.

However, from my secondary research I found that Government is trying to create awareness

among the city dwellers but in an ineffective manner. They are not focusing on the major source

of the problem, which requires awareness, and making of new laws imposing heavy fines like

Singapore where minimum fine is thousand dollars for first time offenders and maximum fine

is five thousand dollars with a possibility of facing a jail time. Maybe we won’t be able to

impose such heavy fines all of a sudden and we can’t expect the problem to eradicate abruptly

but putting a serious effort can substantially reduce the behavioural concern.

Furthermore, people are well aware of the possible consequences of the littering that takes

place every day but since it does not harm them individually so they keep on littering the streets.

When it comes to the blame game, even the participants blamed the city dwellers mostly.

Finally, I would like to conclude that my hypothesis is partially correct in context of the

behavioural pattern of the city dwellers given the limited number of participants but City

Corporation is blamed profoundly by the municipality experts and participants of the survey.

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Limitations:

The primary limitation of this research is the time constraint. In every research it needs a

sufficient amount of time to reach to a concrete conclusion regarding the hypothesis. In

addition, the number of participants is too small as the survey was conducted within a limited

period of time. If the survey was conducted on 1000 people in Dhaka City the results would

have been much less erroneous which I believe, only 43 respondents cannot represent the whole

city. Further there were no funding for the research because of which it lacks of sophisticated

materials which could have made the research more precise and meaningful to publish in

journals. There is also lack of availability of resources and restrictions on availability of paid

research papers, which could have made my secondary research more distinct and definite.

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Conclusion:

In this research I found that my hypothesis is partially correct as a substantial percentage of the

people participated in the survey actually litter because the situation compels them to do so but

if proper infrastructural services were provided the percentage of littering would be much less.

This does not mean that we can rule out the behavioural issues of the mass people as the survey

was conducted on a very small number of people. People should start reconsidering their

actions and possible consequences of their engagements in an honest manner as when the

damages done will reach its zenith we will have very less room to blame each other.

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Reference List:

Experts find littering a behavioural problem. (2015, November 15). Daily Sun. Retrieved

from http://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/91184

Islam, R. (2018, April 04). Costly anti-littering efforts by DNCC, DSCC go to waste. Dhaka

Tribune. Retrieved from

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/2018/04/04/anti-littering-efforts-

dncc-dscc-go-waste/

Khan, A. R. (2017, August 13). Litter-ally illegal. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from

https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/2017/08/13/litter-ally-illegal/

Mahmood, A. (2017, August 17). Dhaka retains 4th least livable city position in global

liveability index. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/2017/08/17/dhaka-4th-least-livable-

city-eiu-global-livability-index/

Masud, A. A. (2016, January 18). A campaign for litter-free Bangladesh. The Daily Star.

Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/campaign-litter-free-

bangladesh-203170

United News of Bangladesh. (2015, November 15). Expert find littering a behavioural

problem as mayors promise clean city. United News of Bangladesh. Retrieved from

http://unb.com.bd/bangladesh-news/city-littering/4665

United News of Bangladesh. (2009, October 02). City rife with littering problems. The Daily

Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-108059

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Appendix:

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