Urban environmental management

1. Md Manik Raton
Manikraton39@gmail.com
Department Of Environment Science And
Disaster Management
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Science And Technology University,
Gobra, Gopalganj, Dhaka
Urban Issues And Solution Of
Gopalganj Municipality

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. BACKGROUND………………………………………..…………………………….1
2. JUSTIFICATION………………………………………………….…………………1
3. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………….………………1
4. METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………...……………….1
4.1 STUDY AREA……………………………………………………………….……………….2
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………………..…………..3
5.1 Solid Waste……………………………………………………………..……………..3
5.2 Drinking water (Salinity)…………………………………………………………….3
5.3 Unplanned Landfilling………………………………………………………………. 4
5.4 Open Dumping Waste………………………………………….……………………..4
5.5 Noise Pollution…………………………………………………………………………5
5.6 Water Pollution…………………………………………………….………………….6
5.7 Unplanned Installation…………………………………………….………………….6
6. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………….…………………7
7.REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………..8
LIST OF FITURES
Fig 4: Study Area……………………………………………………………………………………2
Fig 5.1 Drinking water (Salinity……………………………………….……………………………3
Fig 5.2:Unplanned Landfilling………………………………………………..…………………… 4
Fig 5.3: Open Dumping Waste…………………………………………………………………….. 5
Fig 5.4:Table of Sound Pollution level Data………………………………….……………………. 5
Fig 5.5: Water Pollution…………………………………………………………………………….. 6
Fig 5.6: Unplanned Installation ………………………………………………………………………6

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1. BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate the existing situation of urban environment management of
municipalities in Gopalganj Sadar,Gopalganj. Urban environment management is a potential
dimension to keep pace with the adverse impacts of rapid urbanization and population growth.
Gopalganj Sadar municipality area has been chosen as the study area for this study. At present,
countries all over the world are facing with the same issues and problems concerning environment,
social, transportation, economy and many others in their respective cities. These issues which
frequently occurred in developing countries are mainly caused by the discrepancy of development in
cities and villages (Latif Fauzi, 2007).
2. JUSTIFICATION
The major aims of this report were to analyze the urban characteristics of Gopalganj Sadar City to
evaluate the impacts of urbanization on the physical environment and which type of measures are
needed to solve the current issues of urban Environment. And to illustrate the physiographic resistance
of the study area using Geographic Information System (GIS). As population are increasing day by day
so urbanization is also increasing that’s why finally pollution is increased. And all kinds of pollution
are responsible for environmental pollution directly or indirectly. From this report , people will be
concerned about urban current problems or issues and try to increase public awareness and follow right
rules and regulations for a better urban management.
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
At this time, Urban current issues are a big challenge for the development. These issues or problems
are affected by socio economic factors, demography, seasonal factors, lack of awareness and weak
management practice of local administration to Government. With increasing rate of population, these
issues are also increasing where some sustainable management practices are required to develop or
solve. Without solving these problems, we cannot get a healthy or living able environment.
4. METHODOLOGY
Primary data were collected through questionnaire survey on 30 local people,capturing field data in
phone photographs and expert opinion survey of the municipal authority of Gopalganj sadar from 8
February 2022. Some other secondary data sources have been used like various information gathered
from Municipality office, LGED and other data.

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Some people said that most of the time remains these problems and some of them issues are not a big
problem for their environment. (Because they are uneducated). Secondary sources included a detail
review of published and unpublished documents and primary sources included observation and field
survey. The primary data were collected from the field through a semi-structured questionnaire and
photographs.
Current Collected issues of Gopalganj Sadar were:
• Solid Waste
• Drinking Water (Salinity)
• Unplanned Landfilling.
• Open Dumping
• Noise Pollution.
• Water Pollution By Point Sources
• Unplanned Installation
4.1 STUDY AREA
The study area Gopalganj Sadar Upazila of Gopalganj District is situated in Dhaka division of
Bangladesh with Latitude: 23° 10' 15.49" N and Longitude: 90° 12' 33.66" E. It has 51, 630 households
and a total area of 391.35 km2
. Gopalgonj (town) consists of 21 wards and 72 mahallas. According to
the 1991 Bangladesh census, Gopalganj Sadar had a population of 291,409. Males constituted 50.73%
of the population, and females 49.27%. The population aged 18 or over was 141,978.
Fig 4: Study Area (Using ArcGIS 10.8)

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Gopalganj Sadar had an average literacy rate of 44.7% (7+ years), against the national average of
32.4%.The area of the town is 46.88 km2
. Actually, these data are collected from different place of
Gopalganj Sadar such as Launch Ghat, Miya Para, Goyahata Bridge, Bichik Bridge, Sadar Hospital,
Betgrame etc.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Solid Waste
Public health and control of environmental pollution is proper management and safe disposal of solid
waste generated from the area. Otherwise some common like low coverage, open dumping, irregular
collection of wastes occurred which trigger environmental pollution. There are adequate number
problems of community dustbin inside the area but most of the people (about 60%) said that they
dumped their household wastes here and there, approximately 33.33% people said the wastes are
thrown in dustbin. Very few people find some other way of disposing wastes
People thrown waste along the roadside, on the pond side etc. Almost all the dustbins are provided by
the municipality. The main reasons behind it is lack of concern of the residents and their previous
habit as well as no maintenance of the dustbin by the municipality. Finally The municipal authority
collects the wastes from the dustbins
5.2 Drinking water (Salinity)
Drinking water with higher salt levels can lead to diarrhoea, dysentery, high blood pressure, skin
diseases and various other complications, says Gopalganj Civil Surgeon Sujat Ahmed. He advised the
local residents dependent on the river to get fresh water from ponds and deep tube wells, and to boil
water before drinking. But this water is in limited supply, and local farmers have already been dipping
into that supply for their irrigation needs.
Fig 5.1 Drinking water (Salinity) (Pachuria,lanchghat)

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“Salt water is not only harmful to the human body, it is also damaging to crops and the environment,”
said Md Muhyminul Islam, an assistant professor
5.3 Unplanned Landfilling
Landfill emit a lot of methane (a serious GHG) as organic materials decompose. It costs a lot to
truck waste from point of creation to the landfill, and air pollution from the transport is
inevitable. Landfill refers to an engineered facility for the disposal of SW designed and operated
to minimize public health and environmental impacts. But in the Sadar hospital campus major
volume of waste disposes at a low land area that is located at the southeast boundary line. This
place uses as the final disposal point but in this process of landfilling does not consider the
environmental and geotechnical aspects. Waste disposes only the low land area that is not used
for any purposes now.
It creates a lot of humans and animal’s diseases directly or indirectly and great harmful for our
Environment. It is must designed as the engineering rules and regulations and use it with its capacity.
Fig 5.2:Unplanned Landfilling (Beside Sadar Hospital)
5.4 Open Dumping Waste
Open burning is the burning of unwanted material in the open air where smoke and toxic fumes are
released into the atmosphere directly, therefore, affecting the environment. Open dumping of
Municipal Solid waste is most common and widely practiced method for disposal. Open dumps cause
degradation of environment because of open burning, groundwater and surface water pollution, soil
pollution and decrease in vegetation abundance. One of the best ways to solve the problem of open
burning is to introduce alternatives to the public. The use of incinerators could be promoted. Making

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compost pits could be made more common. Alternative ways of cooking during a camp or a hike
could be promoted.
Fig 5.3: Open Dumping Waste (Location: Sadar Hospital
5.5 Noise Pollution
The faintest sound which can be heard by the Human ear is 1 Db. Due to increasing noise around the
civilizations, noise pollution has become a matter of concern. Some of its major causes are vehicles,
aircraft, industrial machines, loudspeakers, crackers, etc. Some other appliances also contribute to
noise pollution like television, transistor, radio, etc. when used at high volume. Noise pollution can be
hazardous to human health such as Hypertension, Hearing loss, Sleeping disorders,Cardiovascular
issues
Some noise pollution preventive measures are
provided in the points below.
• Honking in public places like teaching
institutes, hospital, etc. should be banned.
• In commercial, hospital, and industrial
buildings, adequate soundproof systems
should be installed.
• Musical instruments sound should be
controlled to desirable limits.
• Dense tree cover is useful in noise
pollution prevention.
Fig 5.4:Table of Sound Pollution level Data (Dept.ESD Assignment)

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5.6 Water Pollution
In recent past decades, Bangladesh had been faced the dangerous arsenic pollution problem which is
attributed to tremendous public health problem. Severe water pollution may be caused by organic
(indicated by COD, BOD, DO, grease, oil, volatile organic carbon etc.), inorganic (indicated by
Temperature, acid, base, TSS, salinity, metals etc.), ions (e.g. anion, cation) and pathogenic (e.g.
bacteria, virous, protozoa etc.) sources from industrial, municipal, hospital wastes as well as
naturogenic sources
Fig 5.5: Water Pollution (Launchghat,Gopalganj Sadar)
5.7 Unplanned Installation
Unplanned urbanization is the root cause of damage to the environment and nature. The growth of
informal settlements in urban areas is caused by Physical, socio-economic, cultural, institutional,
political and historical factors. The physical factors concern the nature of the land on which people
build unauthorized structure.
Fig 5.6: Unplanned Installation (Gohata Bridge,Meyapara)
Putting disproportionate burden on such infrastructure and resources on the river bank has resulted poor
environmental practices and sewage, solid waste management problems, and due to lack of proper
manage of this such waste directly polluted the river water and city people use this water for their
household practices and that’s causes various disease such as typhoid, diarrhea etc.

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The development of the urban and rural area can help to control the extension of this unplanned
installation. Employment, opportunities in rural areas, trade, industrial development, construction work
provide employment opportunities and also control unplanned installation.
6. CONCLUSION
Urban environment management is a standardized method of examining urban growth and
environmental problems from the management and planning perspectives to contribute to the
development of sustainable. It is one of the major responsibilities of a municipal authority to manage
the urban environment of the area and minimize the effects of pollution on them. In this report the
environmental details of Gopalganj Sadar municipality have been identified. The final shows that
currently, the overall environmental status of Gopalganj Sadar municipality is moderate considering
drainage, solid waste management, drinking water (salinity), unplanned landfilling, open burning, noise
pollution, traffic jam, water pollution by point sources condition etc. factors and seeks more monitoring
and maintenance for its betterment
Urban life can create a false sense of separation between people and nature. In reality, a complex
network of cause and effect connects the human, built and natural elements of the environment, within
and between urban and surrounding rural areas, locally and globally.

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