DHAKA – A human chain against the construction of a garbage disposal facility directly in front of De Mazenod Catholic Church and St. Eugene’s School in the center of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

On October 21, the human chain held in front of De Mazenod Church and St. Eugene’s School called on the authorities of the Dhaka North City Corporation to immediately stop and relocate the construction of the garbage disposal facility.

It was made up of the parish priest, schoolteachers, students, guardians, leaders of various organizations and local citizens to oppose construction of a garbage disposal facility directly in front of De Mazenod Catholic Church and St. Eugene’s School in the center of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

“This kind of construction in front of a church and school is completely unreasonable, which will increase the health risk of our students and it is also a neglect and insult to the religious sentiments of the Christian community,” said Oblate Father Pintu Luis Costa, headmaster of St. Eugene’s School.

“Children come through this route every day. It is unthinkable that they will have to attend classes amidst the stench and smoke. There is a health risk, and they will also lose concentration in their class,” he told Crux.

Costa alleged that the church leaders have sent multiple letters to the city corporation authorities explaining the problem and the health risks to their children, but their appeals have been ignored by the government authority.

“Our only demand is that this construction be removed immediately and taken to a place where it will not cause any harm to educational institutions, any religious institutions and people in the residential area,” he said.

The temporary garbage dump collects household waste collected by local three-wheeler services before it is taken to the landfill.

Protesters said that if the garbage depot is not removed, students will not be able to concentrate on their classes due to the stench, mosquitoes from the garbage depot will enter the classrooms, and if students are bitten by mosquitoes, they will contract various mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue and chikungunya, an infection caused by the chikungunya virus. At the same time, Christians who come to the Church will also not be able to concentrate on their prayers.

Strongly condemning and protesting the establishment of this garbage depot in front of the school and church, Bangladesh Christian Association President Nirmol Rozario said that the garbage dump station that is being tried to be established here will create various problems for the people of this area and their children.

“It is our national and moral responsibility to provide a beautiful and clean environment for our young children. We must stop the construction of this facility and ensure the safety of schools and religious institutions,” Rozario said.

“The children who come here to study are not only from the Christian community. Therefore, this damage is our responsibility to provide a beautiful environment for all our communities, to build the future of the children,” said Rozario, who is also one of the presidents of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.

Whatever, Crux tried to contact several officials at the Dhaka North City Corporation, they refused to talk about the matter.

More than three hundred people participated in the human chain and demanded that the garbage depot be relocated elsewhere.

Catholic education in Bangladesh is provided through approximately 1,100 institutes, including a university, colleges, and secondary schools, which educate a large number of non-Christian students, mostly Muslim, while Catholics are only less than one percent of the 170 million people.