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History of the department

Brief History of the Department of Environment

Environmental protection is one of the most discussed issues internationally. Continuous environmental pollution and climate change have threatened the existence of life on earth. Environmentalists have long tried to focus the attention of world leaders on this environmental issue. International cooperative activities in environmental protection were initiated through the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972. A new horizon of this effort was opened through the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1972. In addition to being affected by global environmental problems, Bangladesh is also a victim of local and regional problems. Bangladesh faces both natural and man-made environmental problems. Overpopulation and poverty can be considered as one of the reasons for the environmental disaster in Bangladesh. The environmental problems that Bangladesh is facing are: deforestation, water pollution, natural disasters, land degradation, salinity, unplanned urbanization, unplanned sewage and industrial waste disposal, etc.


In 1972, immediately after the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment, Bangladesh took the first initiative to protect the environment in 1973. As a follow-up to the Stockholm Conference, the Bangladesh government started activities to control water pollution with 27 manpower under the Department of Public Health Engineering and issued the Water Pollution Control Ordinance 1973. It reached its present stage by passing through various stages.


In 1977, the Environmental Pollution Control Board with 16 members and a Director with 26 manpower was established under the leadership of a member of the Planning Commission. Later, the Environmental Pollution Control Project was adopted in 1985. In 1989, the Pollution Control Cell and the Environmental Pollution Control Project were merged and reorganized under the name of the Department of Environment under the leadership of the Director General. Although the activities of the Department of Environment were spread across the country, its office was located only at the divisional headquarters. Later, in 2009, the organizational structure was approved for the establishment of offices in 21 districts and in 2019 in all districts and it started its activities. Currently, the authorized number of manpower in the Department of Environment is 1,133.