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Article

Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh

by
Jennifer Liu
1,2,*,
Roy Brouwer
2,3,
Dilruba Fatima Sharmin
2,4,
Susan Elliott
2,5,
Leah Govia
6 and
Danielle Lindamood
2,4
1
Department of Anthropology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
2
The Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
3
Department of Economics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
4
School of Environmental Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
5
Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
6
Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16389; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416389
Submission received: 29 September 2022 / Revised: 2 December 2022 / Accepted: 4 December 2022 / Published: 7 December 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
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Abstract

:
Industry representatives are key stakeholders in addressing pollution in the rivers surrounding Dhaka, Bangladesh, a fast growing megacity. Drawing on insights from political-ecology and framing water management as a sociotechnical system, we present an analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with representatives from key polluting industries. Three main thematic areas resulting from these interviews relate to the management of effluent treatment plants, the need for enhanced education, both technical and moral, and sociocultural factors that shape attitudes toward water management. In these areas, industrial representatives show multiple ways and realms in which more sustainable water governance in Dhaka may be enacted.

1. Introduction

Urban water management is increasingly challenged by large scale shifts including climate change, population growth, environmental deterioration, and globalization and development [1,2]. These challenges are particularly acute in megacities such as Dhaka, Bangladesh, where the combined challenges of urbanization, rural to urban migration, and increasing pollution stress the surrounding waterways and water management systems [3]. Bangladesh boasts one of the world’s highest economic growth rates and a concomitant reduction in poverty rates from over 80% to below 10% between 1972 and 2018 [4]. Bangladesh is expected to graduate from its current United Nations designation as a Least Developed Country by 2024 [5]. This rapid growth is driven largely by manufacturing sectors, particularly garment and leather industries [6,7]. This impressive economic growth, however, comes with substantial environmental and related costs to health and wellbeing; indeed, industrial pollution in Dhaka has resulted in the deterioration of most of the surrounding waterways [8,9].
Overall, water management in Dhaka involves a complex array of both determining factors and invested stakeholders. In this paper, we examine industrial water pollution and its management from the perspective of industry representatives. We suggest that industry representatives are key actors in creating sustainable solutions for the protection of Dhaka’s waterways and that their perspectives contribute important information regarding appropriate and practicable solutions for Bangladesh and beyond. Drawing on insights from scholarship in political-ecology and framing water management as a sociotechnical system, we present an analysis of industry perspectives in three main areas: the role(s) and management of effluent treatment plants; the need for enhanced education, both technical and moral; and sociocultural factors that shape attitudes toward water management. In these three areas, industrial representatives show multiple ways and realms in which more sustainable water governance may be enacted.
Water management regimes represent dynamic and complex networks—analytically and practically—that are called upon to be responsive to broad patterns and impacts of climate change and to local environmental and sociotechnical particularities. That is, interventions must account for economic and environmental factors while also being socially acceptable in local contexts [10]. Globally, there is growing recognition of the urgent need for innovative approaches and solutions for water governance operationalized at multiple levels [2,11]. Yasmin and colleagues track Bangladesh’s urban water system management since its formalization under British colonial rule in 1757 [1]. They note that current approaches focus more on integrated management processes and sustainability. Their analysis emphasizes the complexity of water management regimes as sociotechnical systems that consist of “all relevant actors and institutions, networks and systems that are directly involved in shaping or evolving urban water systems in Bangladesh” [1] (p. 388). Sultana shows how water infrastructures and development are explicitly linked in relation to the ‘Global South’ and focuses on water systems as techno-natural assemblages [12]. Taken together, Yasmin and Sultana’s vocabularies for water management characterize its irreducibility to singular domains of, for instance, social, natural or technical aspects.
Similarly, political-ecological approaches offer a broad framework for analyzing how social and environmental factors interact in complex and specific ways that are shaped in relation to political-economic drivers at multiple scales, including global capitalist production [13]. In this framing, water safety, pollution and scarcity do not merely reflect ‘natural’ conditions but, rather, are outcomes of often power-laden political and economic decisions [14]. Swyngedouw notes the transcendence of modernist binaries and insists on the inseparability of nature and society, and thus also of the social and physical processes related to water, in what he calls the hydro-social cycle [15]. Like others contributing to the growing literature on the political-ecology of water, Swyngedouw emphasizes the multiple levels implicated in the hydro-social cycle (e.g., local, regional, global) as well as the ways in which water infrastructures and projects reflect distributions of power.
Political-ecological approaches often focus on how the most vulnerable are impacted by water policies and water distribution systems, but they also seek to understand the roles of other actors within hydro-social cycles. This paper focuses on those most directly involved in industrial water pollution and its management, industry representative in Dhaka. These participants face pressures from multiple directions. They are pushed to adopt sustainable practices by both local governments and global corporations, mainly through economic means such as government fines and buyer demands as part of growing movements of corporate social responsibility. Industrial actors also conceptualize sustainable manufacturing practices in relation to social, sensory, and moral considerations. Thus, concerns for sustainability are driven by both market and moral economies. Here, we report the results of qualitative interviews with industry representatives in Dhaka. We discuss the myriad of constraints faced by industry representatives along with their recommendations for both industry and government in addressing current levels of industrial water pollution in Dhaka. Overall, we find that industry attitudes to water pollution are irreducible to technical, regulatory, and economic frames, and are affected also by more subtle perceptions of water that both motivate compliance and shape its broader social meanings.
The balance of this paper is organized into four sections. The next section provides additional background for the entrenched problem of economic globalization and resulting industrial water pollution in megacity Dhaka. A description of the research design and methodology is followed by the results of thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with industry representatives regarding their perceptions of the problem and their ideas for potential solutions. The final section presents a discussion of the key findings as well as limitations and recommendations.

2. Background

The Bengal delta is the largest in the world and covers most of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal [16]. The delta is shaped by the Ganges-Brahmaputra and Megna river system, the world’s second largest hydrologic system after that of the Amazon [17]. “The most influential single natural phenomena that has a deep impact on Bangladesh’s culture, economy, and politics is its river system” [18] (p. 257).
Dhaka, the capital city, is surrounded and permeated by rivers (Figure 1) and is one of the world’s most crowded and fastest growing megacities [6]. Dhaka’s population has grown from approximately 3 million in 1980 to over 21 million in 2020 [19]. This growth is largely driven by economic and climate migration, along with an influx of refugees. Economic growth is propelled by export industries, including garments, leather, and jute [20], while climate-related migration is shaped by both natural and anthropogenic shifts. The elaborate river network comprising Bangladesh and its borders enhances sensitivity to climate change processes, particularly rising sea-levels and related groundwater salinity increases [21,22]. While Bangladeshis are long accustomed to living with floods, enhanced climate variability, more permanent flooding and environmental degradation have led to high rates of internal migration to Dhaka. A World Bank report estimates that up to 13.3 million Bangladeshis may be displaced by 2050 due to climate change impacts [23]. In Dhaka, an influx of new residents puts even more pressure on the city’s already stressed infrastructure. As Tasneem Siddiqui, a political scientist who leads the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit at the University of Dhaka, states: “It’s just that everything is in Dhaka, and people are all coming to Dhaka. And Dhaka is collapsing” [24].
Since achieving independence in 1971, Bangladesh has undergone rapid industrial growth and the resulting water pollution has been recognized as a major threat to the country’s economic and environmental sustainable development. Commonly explored through a lens of development, scholarship on water pollution in Bangladesh has primarily followed its effects on public health, community views of pollution, and water management policy and governance [9,25,26,27]. For example, it has considered definitions of ‘safe’ water and the state of pollution in city canals [28], examined the relationship between water infrastructure and agricultural development [29], as well as the use and effects of industrial wastewater in agriculture [30]. It has explored how Dhaka residents’ understanding of pollution and environmental responsibility changes across geographical and economic statuses [16]. There is substantial inquiry into the geomorphological and geochemical processes involved at the water-source and ecological levels used as evidence for planning and policy [30,31,32,33].
Despite these evidence-informed recommendations and community-supported interventions, water pollution management in Bangladesh faces an implementation gap that requires extended analysis [34]. For example, although the 1995 Environmental Conservation Act requires factories to employ on-site effluent treatment plants (ETP), compliance remains a challenge. Inadequate stakeholder consultation and participation represents a major shortcoming in relation to flood control and drainage rehabilitation [18], and enhanced consultation and participation would likely benefit industrial pollution management as well. Furthermore, Wang and Ching emphasize the importance of moral incentives that work alongside economic incentives in water policy reform efforts, especially as rules are not self-justifying and “do not, by their nature, compel obedience” [35] (p. 515).
In rapidly urbanizing megacities such as Dhaka, the perspectives and understandings of industry actors represent an important component regarding water pollution management. Industry perspectives emerge among unstable financial settings impacted by the demand of both local and foreign stakeholders, inconsistent rule enforcement and compliance by industry and government representatives, and a balancing of private (corporate) and public (government) environmental responsibility with economic sustainability in the planning and implementation of wastewater treatment programs and technologies [36,37,38].

3. Research Design and Methodology

Framing water management as a sociotechnical system problematizes facile distinctions between natural, social and technical realms. Insights from the political-ecology of water emphasize stakeholder interests at multiple scales and bring political, economic and environmental factors into the same analytical frame. Science, technology and society (STS) scholars have studied how sciences and social orders emerge together, each impacting upon the other. In this way, they take into consideration the nexus of science, knowledge, political power and social factors. Moving beyond views of the social and scientific as separate, insulated units, these sociotechnical systems instead signal interrelations and contingencies and underpin a framework of co-production [39]. Scientific and technical knowledge production emerges in interaction with social elements to produce new (e.g., regulatory) practices and (e.g., ethical) norms [40]. This framework centers on “the dynamic interaction and interdependence of nature and society” and is suited to the study of emergent phenomena and policy formation underpinning, for instance, models for sustainability science that emphasize a social contract [41] (p. 452).
Taken together, these approaches suggest that knowledge regarding the best technical methods or instruments to mitigate water pollution will emerge alongside changes in social views and regulatory measures, thereby producing new understandings of technical, economic, spatio-temporal, ethical and other social aspects. Herein, what are deemed to be governmental, technical and sociocultural elements are not exogenously given, bounded or predetermined, but linked and co-produced. Thus, industrial water pollution management in Dhaka represents a dynamic configuration of actions and discourses and this approach highlights how they are, or can be, articulated. For example, ETPs, environmental monitoring and chemical analysis function as technical practices and instruments which both inform and are informed by legal and economic modes of enforcement. These technical and regulatory instruments also interact with elements in other registers that are more clearly experiential and ethical in their import. The analysis presented here attends to such technical and regulatory elements as well as to their multiple social interactions, making visible potential new spaces of intervention to address water pollution.
Given that our research addresses the challenges of industrial water pollution and its social, technical, managerial and regulatory intersections, qualitative semi-structured interviews were chosen as the most appropriate technique for exploring the perspectives of industrial stakeholders. This group is critically important to addressing industrial water pollution and its potential solutions, yet is not often interviewed [42]. Semi-structured open-ended interviews allow for people to express themselves more openly, give extended responses, and raise additional issues or topics that they deem important. Focus groups may not allow for the same degree of openness as participants may feel constrained by the presence of peers or other social, relational, and even legal factors. Surveys work best in cases where issues have been clearly delineated and people have already made up their minds, and do not allow for the same depth and consideration that this research sought [43]. Interviews addressed questions regarding industrial water pollution, specific industry practices, challenges and incentives to proper water treatment, and the roles of industry and government. The interviews left ample space for participants to raise additional topics.
Purposeful sampling [44] was used to select representatives from major polluting industries in Dhaka, i.e., garment and denim washing industries, textile and dyeing industries, tanneries, chemical industries, hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers. We first obtained a list of prospective sites from the Ministry of Environment as they are familiar with the most significant industrial sites and locations. Interviews were conducted on site at participants’ workplaces between April and June, 2019, most lasting 30–60 min. We included small, medium, and large sized industries. As it was difficult to schedule interviews in advance, especially at smaller sites, the interviewer arrived on site, often on multiple occasions, and waited until the person of interest was willing and able to be interviewed (Table 1). We conducted 24 interviews at a total of 21 industrial sites located in four different industrial zones: Tejgaon Industrial Area, Mirpur Industrial Area, Savar Industrial Area and Savar (Hemayetpur) Tannery Area (Figure 2). Interviewees were guaranteed confidentiality before starting the interviews and their identities were anonymized by referring to them as randomly numbered participants (P) in Table 1 and in Section 4.
Interviews were conducted in Bengali by the third co-author, a native speaker from Dhaka. The study received ethics approval from the University of Waterloo’s Office of Research Ethics (#40508). Participants gave oral consent and were audio-recorded with permission. Interviews were then translated into English via verbatim transcription. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Word to organize the data. Initial broad thematic categories were derived from both the interview guide and literature on industrial water pollution in Dhaka. New themes and codes were developed from the interview data. The first and fifth co-authors identified major thematic categories and codes independently, and then confirmed final major codes together [45]. Subsequent data analysis and coding for finer sub-thematic categories were conducted in an iterative process of inductive analysis [46,47,48]. All categories were then reviewed and confirmed independently by the third co-author who had conducted the interviews, in order to confirm thematic and coding reliability.

4. Results

Results are organized by the three primary themes that emerged from the interview data: drivers of and barriers to ETP use; education, raising awareness and technical capacity; and perceptions of health and the waterscape. These latter are notions that operate outside of the regulatory and technical infrastructures and are thus often overlooked yet comprise important aspects of the sociotechnical system.

4.1. Drivers and Barriers to ETP Use

ETPs have been required in Dhaka since 1995, yet compliance is a challenge, evidenced by worsening water pollution. A number of barriers were identified by the participants (P), including limited access to land for ETP construction and ETP operating expenses. Important drivers of ETP use included pressure from buyers and industry relocation programs. Participants identified government practices as acting alternately as barriers and facilitators.
All participants agreed that larger companies are better able to afford ETPs, reflecting economies of scale. A large company representative acknowledged that while most large companies can afford ETPs, small and medium size companies “need to come together and use a central ETP” (P12). The owners of three small companies emphasized that lack of space hindered their ability to install ETPs saying, “We don’t have the area or space for servicing infrastructure in our factory” (P5), and, “But where is the space? … Where is the space?” (P4), and, “We didn’t treat the waste because of lack of space” (P10). The owner of a small washing company with no ETP addressed the dual pressures to both comply with treatment requirements and to deliver at a low price, emphasizing that, “the buyers need to support us in reducing the cost of chemicals, gas, electricity. People of Bangladesh want to do business” (P3).
ETP operating expenses can be significant and include additional labour costs. While no participants admitted to intentionally not running their ETPs, several suggested that larger companies may start up the ETP only when an inspector is present: “Those are the big companies. They have gated factories, there are security guards, you have to give your identification, enter your information in writing before you can proceed into the factory building…” (P3). Such procedures were reported to give time to start up the ETP. Others suggested that companies may receive advance notice of inspections or might pay off inspectors, saying: “There are a few dishonest employees…who take a monthly fee. They might inform the industry prior to their visit, then the industry operates the ETP” (P1), and, “When the officials come [for inspection] they might be given a small payment, and the factories get their certification. Officials can…be negotiated with a small payment” (P5). Thus, both government and industry actors were depicted as responsible for ETP non-compliance. However, while other researchers also point to problems of enforcement [34,42], study participants working for large factories overwhelmingly expressed pride in their responsible water treatment and suggested that such flouting of regulations are the exception rather than the norm. In addition, one participant from a large factory downplayed the significance of such costs, suggesting that savings related to the reuse of water and chemicals offset much of the expense of ETP operation.
ETP use is also driven by buyer requirements. Especially in the textile, clothing and leather industries, as sustainability certification has become part of corporate branding and social responsibility, companies such as Levi’s and H&M increasingly require factories to comply with sustainability standards [49,50]. A participant succinctly affirmed that, “the reason for having the ETP is because of the buyers” (P1). Foreign buyers especially hold a key role in industrial water management as a tannery representative explained: “We will start changing when we get foreigners to buy our products. It is because of their pressure that they imposed ETPs for tanneries” (P10). And a large textile company representative added that, “It’s true that ETP plants are costly; they are expensive. But if there is an ETP then that attracts buyers” (P16).
Buyer representatives may conduct their own inspections to verify supplier compliance. A representative from a large washing company described their relationship with Levi Strauss as follows:
We work with many organizations. One is Levi’s. It is a commitment between us. We are committed to maintain standards per their protocols… The American office with high international standards monitors us… They…can come anytime [to inspect] and we are aware of that. It’s a complete surprise, they tell us “we have come on behalf of Levi’s” and then test our water samples.
(P9)
Buyers, and especially foreign buyers, thus play an important role in water management in Dhaka.
Central ETPs also are critically important. Textile industries and leather tanneries are both important economic drivers and significant polluters in Dhaka. We conducted several interviews in the Savar Tannery Area in Hemayetpur along the Daleshwari River. The relocation of the tanneries from Hazaribagh to planned development sites with a central ETP (CETP) in Savar was driven by the government to address the heavy pollution of the Buriganga river. The relocation of the tanneries shows the potential for government involvement and offers a model for other industries:
What the government can do is create specific industrial areas with adequate gas lines, electrical system, waste disposal, etcetera, where organizations can relocate and continue to do business. They have to create a supportive environment to help the organizations improve their production while minimizing pollution.
(P2)
Textile company respondents expressed a desire for the construction of a similar zone with CETPs. While relocation is expensive, the overall benefit is perceived to be greater especially for the smaller factories. A small washing company with no ETP reported plans to move to Savar: “I saw that Dhaka City is the third most polluted city in the world. We face a catastrophe. We need to relocate all the factories from within Dhaka city” (P3). The Savar tannery relocation is an example of a meaningful response to over-pollution through relocation.
However, even this flagship relocation faces difficulties. Participants confirmed that construction of the CETP remained incomplete at the time of our interviews, and thus factories were releasing pollutants into the Daleshwari River at Savar [51]. One participant showed us to his balcony in Savar overlooking the river. He said that when he moved here, he sat on the balcony every evening enjoying the fresh air and the view of the beautiful river. But, it had already changed; the air was no longer so fresh and the river was already showing signs of pollution. The tannery relocation project had been in motion for over 14 years, with active relocation since 2017. Without more assertive and comprehensive government attention, there is a risk of also relocating the pollution problems of Hazaribagh to Savar. Government driven relocation projects are generally perceived as a viable tool to address industrial water pollution, but they require a concerted and effective implementation program [52,53,54].
In the absence of CETPs, participants insisted that the government has a key role to play in reducing the costs of implementation of environmental policies and regulations. “The government has to collaborate with the industry owners” (P2). Others specified that the government could facilitate bank loan terms, streamline permit approval processes, and offer more regulatory oversight to enhance ETP compliance. One suggested that government support could include negotiating with banks to offer more favourable borrowing terms. Low-interest loan programs for ETP construction exist, however, the banks may not honour these: “The banks do not willingly tell us that to take loan for ETP only, at the interest rate of 4%” (P5). Instead, they said, they may be sold bundled loans at interest rates over 10%.
Small company representatives overwhelmingly complained that the government was punitive and overly demanding, invoking a Bengali idiom, “We try to fence the sheep, but the sheep eats the fenced field” (P3b), to communicate that attempts to gain support from authorities results instead in being harmed by them. They complained of harassment and noted that government payments and penalties can take many forms. One participant described:
I had to pay 40,000 taka [US$ 462] to submit the application form for a clearance certificate. I had to fill in a form and in submitting the form I had to pay so much. Then they [government] added additional tariffs… And, if we miss the WASA [Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority] bill by a month our water supplies are cut, and will only resume if the bill is paid in full.
(P3a)
Another participant complained of excessive bureaucratic tasks that impede ETP development. He listed several of the requirements including approval from various agencies, and detailed regulations and compliance plans, and he decided that it unlikely that their ETP building would be permitted. “When I go to the government, the overwhelming regulations scare me” (P5). He still plans to build, but without permits. Overall, participants called for government action that is collaborative and supportive rather than punitive.
There was widespread agreement that CETPs, built and overseen by the government, are a critical component of any serious plan to address industrial water pollution. CETPs consolidate expenses, management and oversight, while also ensuring proper operation and obviating the impetus to not operate an existing ETP. While participants overwhelmingly saw CETPs as a government responsibility, a large company representative suggested that ETPs in general could be industry driven: “If the industries take responsibility for monitoring the water, treating the water before draining it, then they will benefit from it” (P12). He described a process of inculcation in which ETP use is recognized as responsible practice and reinforced through the incentive of public recognition:
It is like this, when you enrol your child in a good school they get a lot of benefits. If they do well, then they will get a chocolate or a candy. If they perform poorly, then they will not get anything. If we work like this, through incentives, then we will have an advantage. These can become highlights in papers and media. Our names will get popularity. This is a kind of incentive.
(P12)
This participant suggests that recognition can act as a motivator as well as an incentive linked to corporate social responsibility. This example, in which industrial responsibility is compared to childhood education, aligns with another broadly recommended intervention, namely that of raising awareness.

4.2. Education: Raising Awareness and Technical Capacity

Industry actors suggested that awareness and education are key components of addressing industrial pollution in Dhaka. They point to both specific technical needs and to a broader need for general public education and awareness. They credit rising education levels amongst factory owners and their children for progress made to date. Several pointed to workforce challenges regarding the lack of skilled workers available to run ETPs and in addition to formal education, many emphasized the need for increased awareness and collective action. Below, two participants articulate these perceived needs:
(The owners) don’t operate (the ETP) at all times because they don’t see any benefit. In my industry with the ETP, I bear the cost of chemicals, electricity and a worker who oversees operation. That is why I said we need to have awareness among all. Only then it is possible.
(P1)
I think awareness (is key). If I’m not concerned about the consequences of my water disposal practices and someone else is also not concerned about the consequences, then that will not work. We all have to take actions collectively. We cannot afford to spread the pollution.
(P2)
The need for collective action is highlighted by another participant who questioned why he would take on the expense of installing and operating an ETP when the whole water system is already polluted:
There is no benefit if I construct an individual ETP. After spending a lot of money on installing and running the ETP to treat wastewater, where am I going to discharge all that treated clean water? The drain is already polluted because of other industrial and residential wastewater. If there were an ETP for all and everyone had to pay charges for using the ETP just like electricity bill, water bill, then that would be beneficial.
(P13)
Participants agreed on these needs and they envisioned addressing them in multiple ways. They included critiques of individualized approaches. A factory manager described how he and his colleagues all installed water filtration systems in their homes in order to address the lack of potable water availability. However, he was clear that the proper approach was to provide treated water through the tap system so that safe drinking water was publicly available.
Such collective action was accompanied by calls to build awareness of the consequences of pollution more broadly and for collective and holistic plans for environmental improvement. These calls were offered along with an expression of personal awareness, a concern for the future of the country, and a moral assessment. In this context, adherence to environmental standards may be a point of pride while those who skirt the laws are viewed as shirking their collective moral duty. They may benefit financially in the short term, but at a cost to future generations, as the excerpts below indicate:
Our ETP is an asset in that it is protecting our waters, our future generation and our country. It is a proud moment—that I have such an asset that benefits us all.
(P12)
You want to be good and your child to be good too, right? You pay a penalty and get out, earn lots of money. But your future generation will not get anything good… Environmental pollution is a threat to our next generation. We have a moral responsibility to fight against it.
(P3)
This is my country. I wouldn’t want my future generations to face any [environmental] problems. It is for everyone.
(P1)
Education here is not just about technical skills and formal knowledge; it is about inculcating a sense of collective responsibility, a ‘moral education,’ as one participant summarizes: “That is why we need a well-rounded education, not only to teach the next generation, but also so that they become good human beings. We need quality education” (P10).
In addition to raising awareness and collective action, many also proposed an important government role in building technical education and specific ETP-related expertise. Four participants were engineers and thus able to speak to both the technical and governance aspects of operating ETPs. They called for “adequate manpower for the ETPs to work at an optimum level” (P5) and insisted that, as technical experts, they have a responsibility to lead and educate those “owners (who) are more concerned about the cost” (P12). Buttressing an earlier point, this engineer/manager also noted that smaller companies are most vulnerable as they may not be able to afford adequate expert oversight. He insists that technical training should be available to companies, endorsing a collectivist, government driven educational component, “The government can plan so that we receive such training without any expense” (P12).
Overall, participants supported a more active role for government in facilitating ETP and CETP construction and oversight, and in raising levels of awareness and education. Education here refers to a broad general education, including a moral education, as well as specific technical capacity related to ETP construction and operation.

4.3. Perceptions of Health and the Waterscape

All participants recited a list of health concerns related to increasing water pollution. Several also drew a link between water and air pollution, unwilling to separate their combined effects, as they recounted their own health challenges which commonly included skin irritation, stomach and digestive disorders. They also pointed to rising community rates of cholera, hepatitis and jaundice, kidney diseases, and cancer, as well as to increases in mosquitoes linked to disease transmission.
Although no participant mentioned mental health directly, they alluded to distress in relation to both waterscapes and cultural shifts. The sociocultural and experiential significance of the rivers exceeds their economic value. Water is a central component of Bangladeshi identity: “We are a water culture. We are losing our culture!” (P21b); “Rivers are like mothers to the land… Much of our music is related to our rivers” (P2b). The latter participant recounted a genre of folk music that invokes a fisherman singing. One such song, Bhatiali, tells of a young woman married in a faraway village asking the boatman to tell her brother how she misses and awaits him.
Others also confirm the centrality of water in a religious frame. One participant invoked Allah to assist in the fate of the river. “… in Allah’s name. If you can improve this gruesome situation, I will thank Allah, because humans alone cannot solve it” (P4), while another emphasized the rivers’ significance for the country’s Hindus:
“Many rivers are considered sacred by the Hindu communities. The Buriganga is a holy river and I have seen people taking a dip there to pray to their ancestors… In Dhaka there are some holy spots for the Hindu communities” (P2b). In many areas, however, the rivers can no longer be used for bathing, hindering both hygiene and religious practice. Thus, water pollution management becomes a religious responsibility as an ETP engineer articulated: “Okay, so it is that the Creator has created water and gifted it to us. We have successfully ruined His mercy. We are the polluters, so now we have to think of ways to clean this mess” (P15). The waterscape, in this view, incorporates various realms of meaning and value. Along with obvious pollution and health problems, changing waterscapes can evoke distress in cultural, religious and symbolic realms [55].
Furthermore, alongside religious significance and sustenance of both life and livelihood, changing waterscapes lead to shifting gendered practices. In previous decades, a participant recalled, “… the idea of going and collecting water from the rivers was part of our culture. The women used to go out in groups, sing, wash, bathe and come back with a pitcher full of water” (P2b). Now, however, he says it is more common for a woman to hand her husband a pitcher and send him to fill it. There is, of course, no singular or reified Bangladeshi ‘culture’ or way of life; there are many ways to be Bangladeshi. And accounts of the past are often inflected by nostalgic yearnings. Nostalgia is nonetheless a rich site for exploring present day practices, meanings, and identity formation [56], and narratives of specific loss permeated many of the interviews.
As in the previous section, participants also repeatedly raised specific concerns regarding care and duty toward future generations. These concerns extended to the country as a whole and even to other species:
Our next generation deserves a beautiful earth and we have to leave that to them. We need a mentality towards sustainability, or we will not be able to continue with our development… For instance, the developed countries are having dialogues and measures to reduce carbon dioxide… Because it is not for one person, it is damaging for everyone’s health.
(P1)
In both nostalgic and future temporal registers industry actors invoked individual and collective responsibilities regarding water pollution management. Several participants acknowledged Bangladesh’s rich biodiversity [57], and spoke of threatened water life, biodiversity loss, and the interdependency of species. Most, however, spoke through a central symbolic animal, fish. “We are fish eaters!” (P2), but, “there is no fish now” (P4). Noting how few fishermen there are now, one recounted that, in his youth, “I used to see a few hundred fishermen catching hilsa from the river” (P2b). Another echoed this perception, “once we would find fish before, today fish is not available. The [river] biodiversity is all wasted” (P5). Hilsa (Ilish) is the national fish and exemplified in the Bengali proverb, “Macher raja Ilish” meaning hilsa is the king of the fish [58]. There is widespread acknowledgement that hilsa is an important source of income and cultural identity [59], and that it has been largely depleted from the Buriganga and other rivers due to overfishing and poor water quality. The sense of loss also extends to other fish species. One participant (P1) discussed the different fish in Bangladesh now unable to survive due to the presence of dyes and chemicals. Another (P4) linked fish depletion to a decline in migratory birds, emphasizing the ecological interdependence that has impacts well beyond Dhaka.
Several respondents also expressed loss in a sensory register. Besides perceived loss of health, they drew attention to more subtle sensory experiences; they complained that the fish now do not taste the same and that the prior sweetness of water is gone. They asked such rhetorical questions as, “Where is the sweet potable water in Bangladesh?” (P10), and complained that, “In front of my eyes we are seeing the way the rivers are deteriorating” (P5).
The participants emphasized multiple themes that coalesce around economic, ecological, and sociocultural notions of sustainability. The decision, for example, to use an ETP is driven by multiple considerations of cost, land availability, awareness and a sense of personal responsibility, and buyer and government requirements which may, in turn, be shaped in relation to international standards. Industry actors thus face economic and regulatory pressures from multiple directions. While these represent urgent concerns for industry actors, they also emphasized that water pollution evokes subtle sociocultural and sensory impacts that are commonly overlooked in seeking practical solutions, but remain salient in imagined futures that shape the political-ecological and sociotechnical systems and thus represent potential sites of action.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

Participants articulated multiple roles for both industry and government in addressing industrial pollution in Dhaka. These range from large infrastructural interventions such as building and monitoring CETPs and driving industry relocation projects such as that of the tanneries, thereby addressing the economic, land, and workforce challenges that individual companies face. Participants also expressed a clear role for government in improving Bangladesh’s education in general, along with specific emphasis on enhancing technical capacity and providing training for industry owners and managers. Government could play an important role in facilitating more manageable financing and permit-related processes, especially as several respondents perceive the government to be restrictive rather than facilitative.
International buyers, who require compliance with norms of sustainable manufacturing, present a powerful incentive for Dhaka industries to comply with environmental regulations. As more companies incorporate green supply chain practices as part of their marketing, branding and corporate social responsibility, they represent key strategic players in Dhaka’s industrial water management [60]. Such international pressure prompted, in part, the move of the tanneries to Savar. More recently, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Tanneries Association suggested that the downturn in leather exports can be attributed to unresolved problems at Savar: “Due to a lack of environmental compliance at Savar Leather Industrial Park, global buyers are not placing work orders” (Mr. Md. Shakawat Ullah, quoted in [54]). This example illustrates the importance of developing robust infrastructural changes such as fully operational CETPs rather than merely relocating pollution problems.
Participants also articulated a clear responsibility for industries in properly treating their effluents. This is framed practically in terms of economic considerations as well as morally in terms of securing the future of the country. Economic constraints severely limit some companies’ compliance with costly effluent treatment mechanisms as many operate within a strict calculus of profits and losses. While we heard rumours about companies that do not operate their ETPs continuously, and this also appears in the literature [42], enhanced DOE monitoring and enforcement along with the sentiments expressed by participants suggest that such practices are waning.
Economic stress is more pronounced among smaller factories, which are in turn less motivated to comply with ETP regulations, especially when they may not see the likelihood of a clear effect. Small companies may not install ETPs if adjacent factories do not have them. Neighboring factories will literally dilute any effect individual efforts may have, and thus also the motivation to implement pollution abatement measures, presenting a typical reflection of the prisoner’s dilemma in game theory. This example highlights the need for collective action whereby individual efforts are not viewed as undermined by the inaction of others. Calls for collective action, such as enhanced education and building CETPs, represent clear and practical examples for exploring new modes of public-private partnerships involving industry, government and public collaboration.
Environmentally responsible practice is often viewed as irrational within a strictly economic frame. However, these interviews suggest that industry attitudes are irreducible to a strict economic logic. It is possible, of course, that some responses reflect courtesy bias or a tendency to tell interviewers what they want to hear. Notwithstanding, our participants acknowledge multiple competing factors, such as the recognition that the future of their country, their children, and even their industrial capacity hinges on addressing water pollution. They recognize, therefore, not just economic costs, but also moral, cultural, religious, and even existential factors. Indeed, anthropologists [61,62] and scientists [63] have examined the cultural and experiential aspects that imbue water with value beyond economic and demonstrate that one’s sense of place is often strongly tied to waterways. Given the urgency of pollution problems and the centrality of water to health, it is easy to overlook subtler symptoms and threats regarding water pollution. These participants, however, called attention to the importance of cultural, sensory and moral aspects of local waterways, showing how the polluted waterscape is experienced as meaningful loss.
We have focused on economic, environmental, and sociocultural implications of industrial water pollution, while also suggesting that it is important to consider other ways of thinking about the meanings of water and the various forms of value with which water is imbued. In the context of sociotechnical systems, these provide powerful symbolic resources that can be mobilized in the production of the imaginaries that underpin social movements, collective action, and policy decision-making. These imaginaries represent “an organized field of social practices” [64] (p.122) that shape the social order and thus the possibilities of action. Such imagination is both discursively productive and has material effects. In this case, it brings multiple stakeholders from various sectors into the same frame to imagine sustainable futures and to implement policy accordingly. In this space, economic, technical and regulatory instruments interact with elements in other registers that are more clearly experiential and ethico-moral in their import as they shape and support the possibilities of effective action and intervention.
Taken together, multiple powerful sites of motivation exist to shape sociotechnical infrastructures, and related policy and practice, toward improving water quality in Dhaka’s many rivers. The literature on industrial water pollution management in Dhaka largely focuses on technical, regulatory, and economic drivers and barriers. These interviews with industry stakeholders add detail in these crucial areas and also emphasize the importance of educational, sociocultural, religious and sensory realms. These represent additional sites of potentially impactful outreach and intervention that should be explored in more depth.
A limitation of this study is that we were not able to recruit multiple representatives from all relevant industries. Also, while all participants were men, it should be recognized that women are active in Dhaka industries, including as owners. Those who were willing to participate in interviews may be those most concerned about industrial water pollution and thus we may have missed some important voices. Thus, while our findings are not fully generalizable or representative, they nonetheless provide important information about challenges, concerns, and potential solutions that industries face. Eliciting in-depth narratives from people whose voices are not often heard on this topic contributes to a deeper understanding of the broad stakes of industrial water pollution in Dhaka and may help to raise often unconsidered concerns.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, J.L. and R.B.; methodology, J.L. and D.F.S.; software, L.G.; validation and formal analysis, J.L., D.F.S. and L.G.; writing—original draft preparation, J.L. and L.G.; writing—review and editing, J.L., R.B., D.F.S., S.E. and D.L.; project administration, R.B.; funding acquisition, R.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) Urban Sanitation Research Initiative and supported by Partnership Funding of the REACH programme led by Oxford University with the help of UK Aid from the UK government.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Office of Research Ethics of the University of Waterloo (protocol #40508 19 December 2018).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the assistance of staff at the Department of Environment and at the local WSUP office in Bangladesh, in particular Farzana Begum. We thank Adnan Qader and Fatima Alhaan for their valuable assistance with transcription and translation work. Our greatest appreciation goes to the industry representatives who shared their time and valuable thoughts with us.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Sustainability 14 16389 g001 550
Figure 1. Map of Bangladesh and Dhaka City.
Figure 1. Map of Bangladesh and Dhaka City.
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Figure 2. Map of Industrial Areas: Dots indicate the Industrial Areas where interviews were conducted. The brown dot indicates the special Savar/Hemayetpur Tannery Area.
Figure 2. Map of Industrial Areas: Dots indicate the Industrial Areas where interviews were conducted. The brown dot indicates the special Savar/Hemayetpur Tannery Area.
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Table
Table 1. Overview of key participants and water polluting industries.
Table 1. Overview of key participants and water polluting industries.
ParticipantIndustrySizeIntervieweeLocationETPNotes
P1WashingLargeETP EngineerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P2 & P2bWashingMediumGeneral ManagerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P3 & P3bWashingSmallGeneral ManagerTejgaon Industrial AreaN
P9WashingLargeVice PresidentMirpur Industrial AreaY
P13WashingSmallOwnerMirpur Industrial AreaN
P14WashingMediumOwnerMirpur Industrial AreaY
P4DyeingSmallOwnerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P5DyeingSmallOwnerTejgaon Industrial AreaNETP under construction
P8DyeingSmallOwnerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P15DyeingLargeETP EngineerSavar Industrial AreaY
P16DyeingLargeETP EngineerSavar Industrial AreaY
P6PharmaceuticalLargeEnvironmental ManagerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P7PharmaceuticalLargeETP EngineerTejgaon Industrial AreaY
P12PharmaceuticalMediumGeneral ManagerMirpur Industrial AreaY
P10Tannery OwnerSavar Tannery AreaYCETP
P17Tannery OwnerSavar Tannery AreaYCETP
P18Tannery OwnerSavar Tannery AreaYCETP
P19Tannery OwnerSavar Tannery AreaYCETP
P21 & P21bTannery OwnerSavar Tannery AreaYCETP
P11Chemical General ManagerMirpur Industrial AreaY
P20Government HospitalLargeDirector N
Explanatory notes: Savar Tannery Area is located at Hemayetpur. ETP: effluent treatment plant; CETP: centralized effluent treatment plant. Industry site size follows the Ministry of Industry categorization (See here: https://moind.gov.bd/site/view/policies/) (accessed on October 2019): Large indicates a value of fixed assets (excluding land and buildings) over Tk. 500 million or with over 300 workers; Medium indicates fixed assets between Tk. 150 million–499 million or with 121–300 workers; Small indicates fixed assets of Tk.7.5 million–150 million or with 31–120 workers.
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Liu, J.; Brouwer, R.; Sharmin, D.F.; Elliott, S.; Govia, L.; Lindamood, D. Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sustainability 2022, 14, 16389. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416389

AMA Style

Liu J, Brouwer R, Sharmin DF, Elliott S, Govia L, Lindamood D. Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sustainability. 2022; 14(24):16389. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416389

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Liu, Jennifer, Roy Brouwer, Dilruba Fatima Sharmin, Susan Elliott, Leah Govia, and Danielle Lindamood. 2022. "Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh" Sustainability 14, no. 24: 16389. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416389

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