Shahnaz Munni protests as mosquito coil factory in residential area gets clearance

Journalist and novelist Shahnaz Munni has called for an immediate halt to efforts to reissue environmental clearance for a proposed mosquito coil factory in the residential area of Nayapur, Sonargaon Upazila, Narayanganj.

She alleged that despite nine separate investigations by the Department of Environment (DoE) confirming the site as a residential area and leading to the cancellation of the factory's location clearance, authorities are once again attempting to approve the project through an appeal hearing scheduled for August 6.

Speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday morning, Munni presented the allegations alongside Md. Main Uddin Molla, representing Nayapur's mosque, Sadhan Saha, representing the local temple, and poet and environmental activist Shahed Kayes, representing local residents.

Munni remarked that although she had spent three decades covering other people's press conferences as a journalist, she now found herself compelled to hold one of her own after becoming a victim of what she described as "environmental terrorism."

According to Munni, the proposed factory, Sharmin Chemical Works, is planned for a densely populated neighborhood adjacent to a mosque, a temple, and a women's madrasa in Nayapur. She warned that if the factory becomes operational, toxic emissions and pollution would make the area unsafe and unhealthy for local residents.

She explained that following complaints from local people, the Department of Environment's headquarters and regional offices conducted nine separate investigations. Every investigation concluded that the location is a residential area where, under existing environmental regulations, a mosquito coil factory cannot legally be established. After these findings, the DoE revoked the factory's location clearance.

Munni further alleged that although the factory later obtained clearance through an appeal, that approval was subsequently revoked following another investigation. Despite this, she said, another attempt is now being made to secure environmental approval through a fresh appeal.
Questioning the process, Munni asked how a decision reached after nine detailed investigations could be overturned in a 15-minute appeal hearing. She alleged that influential groups are exploiting the appeal mechanism to obtain environmental clearances that would otherwise not be granted.

She also noted that Imam Poultry Farm, located in the same area, had previously been shut down for violating environmental laws, with the matter eventually reaching the High Court. In that context, she argued, allowing an even more polluting mosquito coil factory in the same locality would directly contradict both the law and previous judicial decisions.

At the press conference, Munni urged the authorities not to grant environmental clearance to the proposed factory. She also called for amendments to the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995, including transforming the Department of Environment into an autonomous institution, abolishing the ministry's appeal board in favor of an independent Environmental Court for hearing appeals, and rejecting the environmental clearance application submitted by Sharmin Chemical Works in accordance with the Department of Environment's own findings.