Waterkeepers Bangladesh (WKB) consortium organized the second data validation workshop on Saturday, 2nd April 2022. The workshop was held at the Auditorium of Stamford University Bangladesh, Shiddheshwary campus from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm.

Waterkeepers Bangladesh formed a consortium with the Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, and Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), Department of Environmental Science, Stamford University Bangladesh to protect the air and noise pollution along with the pollution to the Buriganga river by naval vessels, dyeing and tannery industries. As part of this project, the ‘State of Dhaka Environment (SoDE)’ report will be developed through subsequent data validation workshops. The first data validation workshop was held on 18 November 2021. Therefore, the second data validation workshop was organized as the continuation of the process of developing the SoDE Report.

As part of the monitoring of the pollution status of Dhaka city to develop the SoDE report, the WKB consortium is collecting water, air, and noise data from different spots and locations. This consortium is collecting air and noise data samples from the 10 locations in Dhaka city- Shahbag, Motijheel, Ahsan Manjil, Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Parliament area, Utara, Tejgaon, Agargaon, and Mirpur and collecting water quality data from Buriganga and Dhaleshwari rivers from 4 selected points. Furthermore, the consortium is checking the collected samples in eight parameters as part of quality monitoring. Besides, the WKB consortium also looks at the citizen perception from the dialogues organized in the form of river talkies, river festivals, community meetings, etc. In addition to that, two studies on legislative analysis have been done engaging an academic expert and a legal practitioner to review the policies, legal frameworks, and court orders to identify the gaps and challenges related to environmental protection. In the workshops, relevant stakeholders were invited to join. The actors from government, private sectors, CSOs, media, academics, and experts who are holding strategic positions. Besides sharing monitoring data, the consortium also discussed the policy gaps and priorities that come up from CSOs and policy analysis.

Mohammad Ali Naki, Vice-Chancellor, Stamford University Bangladesh attended the 2nd Data Validation workshop as the Chief Guest. Dr. Munjurul Hannan Khan, Executive Director of Nature Conservation Management (NACOM), and Mr. Moinuddin Ahmed, Chief of Party Bangladesh, PAR/Counterpart International were the special guests. WKB consortium lead Mr. Sharif Jamil chaired and moderated the workshop. Professor Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder, consortium member and chairman of Environmental Science, Stamford University Bangladesh presented the data analysis of air and noise quality. Professor Md. Nurul Islam, PhD, Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University presented the data analysis of water quality. Mohammad Golam Sarwar, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka, analyzed implementation gaps of the laws and policies related to water, air, and noise pollution and recommended a roadmap.

Among others Prof. Dr. Md. Younus Mia, Pro-VC, Stamford University Bangladesh; Dr. Alamgir Hossain, Head of Dhaka Laboratory, Dhaka WASA; M S Siddiqui, Vice President, International Business Forum of Bangladesh; Monir Hossain Chowdhury, Environment and Climate Change Specialist, National River Conservation Commission; Professor KM Shariful Huda, Department of geography and environment, Jahangirnagar University; Professor Dr. Mahbub Hossain, Department of Microbiology, BRAC University; Dr. Adil Muhammad Khan, Urban planner, Institute for Planning and Development (IPD); Preeti Kana Sikder, Associate Professor, Department of Law and Justice, Jahangirnagar University; Md. Atiqul Islam PhD, Director (Traffic), Deputy Secretary, Payra Port Authority; Ms. Gauss Pierre, Director, WBB Trust discussed the presentations. Guests and discussants agreed that to stop pollution it is necessary to have efficient institutions as well as strong leadership. They stressed the need to change our behavior in policy making and implementation to combat pollution and protect the environment.

There was a total of 91 participants at the event among which 15 were Women and 76 Men.