Economic Development and the Protection

Economic Development and the Protection of the Environment in Bangladesh:
Some Observations
Mohsin R. Siddique
Abstract
Bangladesh, like many other developing countries, has been struggling with the problems that are common to all the
countries in this category: providing for the basic needs of the people and improvement of the quality of their lives
with limited resources and an ever increasing population. The need to pay attention to the environment has
complicated the task. The response of the policy makers to this requirement varies from efforts to belittle the
problems to exasperation with the complexities involved. The pressures to deal with the problems have primarily
been exerted by the developed countries that play critical role in financing development efforts. Along with the
financial assistance come the premises which operate in pursuing economic activities in the donor countries.
Incorporation into the global market, either by a deliberate policy of emphasizing export oriented economic policy,
or because of the dependence on external resources for local economic development, imposes further limits on
balancing development and protection of the environment. But the questions remain: can economic development in
the traditional sense be shifted to sustainable economic development while operating within the parameters set by
forces which have driven the development efforts so far? Specifically, can the environment and natural resource base
of Bangladesh be protected while pursuing the current economic policies? If not what might be the consequences?
What development policy will allow integrity of the natural system while meeting human needs? In this paper these
and other related issues are examined.

I.

Introduction

It may seem out of place to present a paper on the environmental problems in Bangladesh at this
conference, since the Bengal Studies Conferences have not traditionally dealt with subjects
related to natural, biological or earth sciences. The primary purpose of this presentation is not to
discuss technical issues. Rather, the objective is to raise some concerns which have emerged
from development policies being pursued without regard to their long and short term impact on
the natural resource base and the viability of the natural system to support such activities. The
hypothesis is that awareness of these impacts by the public in general and the intellectual
community in particular is essential, because the policy implications affect all aspects of
collective living as well as personal lives. This is especially true if any change in the direction
from traditional development policies are contemplated; leaving this responsibility to a group of
specialists, however competent, cannot lead to resolution of problems that have deep historical,
social and psychological roots. Indeed, it is also assumed that the system of intellectual tyranny
embodied in professional specialization and discipline-centered academic processes, derived
from the logic of the division of labor, is one of the reasons why human beings have become
entangled into a complex, and some maintain intractable relationship of conflict with nature. The
situation is like the proverbial blind men who were trying to figure out what an elephant is, and
everyone's specialty leads them to the arrogant assertion that their interpretation was the true

elephant. What is sorely needed is an integrated, multi disciplinary approach, especially,
involvement of the social sciences and the humanities. Making it an exclusive concern for the
natural and physical sciences, and not incorporating philosophers, writers, artists, workers,
politicians, indeed, all segments of the society in the absolutely necessary task of establishing a
new relationship with that from which we have evolved - but have treated as our opposite ever
since - may very well cause our premature demise.

Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
II.

Our Physical Being & the Environment

The point here is that how we live our lives in relation to the rest of the physical or natural world
is every one's concern. Basically, our failure to make a conscious decision about it, individually
and collectively, has led us to a situation of grave danger in that now our very existence may be
threatened. The fundamental objective condition for our existence is our dependence on nature.
In the process, we impact upon it; this obviously cannot be avoided. Although not sure about
how prehistoric humans treated, and more importantly, viewed rest of nature, the evidence is
clear that by and large, since the dawn of civilization, and until very recently, we have, for all
practical purposes, discounted the impact we make on our surroundings in the process of assuring

our physical existence and reproduction. Indeed, those countries which today are known as
"developed", primarily because of their success in acquiring material wealth, have achieved this
status by militantly promoting the idea that the basic relationship between humans and nature is
adversarial. Since the dominant ideology in the world is the ideology of the dominant economies,
the necessity of conquering nature has been imprinted upon the collective psyche of the world as
the absolute condition for human existence. Thus, the idea of struggle with nature has been
imbedded in all aspects of human culture. Most religion, philosophy, art, literature, etc., have
provided the rationalization and extolled the virtues of this war against all that are essential for
our existence. Human civilization has been measured by the increasing efficiency and ferocity
with which each successive generations have launched their assault on the natural system which
supports life on the planet. There have always been lonely voices in the wilderness warning us to
be cautious but they were ignored. It is only recently, in the face of impending calamities of
enormous proportion, from near destruction of the tropical rain forest to damages to the ozone
layer protecting the planet from ultra violet radiation, from global warming and potential rise in
the sea level to desertification, it has become impossible to hide the consequences of our
collective and personal greed, avarice and callousness.
Considering that the basic question is one of viability of the very conditions of our existence, it is
rather disconcerting that up to now it has been categorized mostly as an environmental and
natural resources management problem. The way we live, i.e., the conditions we have imposed
on nature, is the way we have lived forever. It has made civilization possible, science and

technology, art and culture, everything, including our ability to reflect upon this problem.
Indeed, along with the biological imperatives implied in our being, the relationship we have
established with nature is one of the principal ingredients of what we call human nature.
Therefore, the project to reestablish a viable relationship with our surroundings that will sustain
human life, indeed, any form of life, may very well turn out to be a project to undo many, if not
most of the assumptions, attitudes, values, habits, practices, etc., that have a history as long as the
species homo sapiens. This cannot be the task of a few specialists.
The solution we seek to this overwhelming problem is a collective responsibility. It is so, because
in even our most passive state, as individuals and collectives, we make choices, which are
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counted as signals in the local and global market, in the political arena, in the community, and in
the family. Whereas the "socio-economic system" plays a strong role in shaping the choices,
individual responsibilities in pursuing them cannot be denied. The choices of course turn into
policies and practices. To determine what we must do to repair the damages we have done to the
natural world, and to chart a new course for the future, for ourselves and for our descendants, who, it should be recognized, are unable to make the choices themselves, but will have to face
the consequences, - requires involvement of all segment of the world's population. Resolution of
this issue can only take place by deliberation of it in the public domain. It is not a subject that can
be resolved in the narrow confine of any one discipline. The leadership of the intellectual

community committed to a broad outlook and capable of undertaking a comprehensive approach
to problems of collective living and individuals' role in this regard, is essential.
Changing human nature is a daunting task. Indeed, given the genealogy of human nature, its
vulnerability to an infinite number of variables, as well as the experience of past failures of
attempts from time to time to alter it by deliberate actions, it is difficult to be hopeful regarding
the prospect of bringing any change in our relationship with nature, even if intimidated by the
recognition that our lives may depend on it. But if one accepts the materialist view that human
nature is not of divine origin nor is absolute for any other reasons, but that it is a product of
biology, historical process and the objective conditions which enable existence as species and as
social beings, one can be optimistic that at least there is potential for changing past practices and
for establishing a relationship with the surroundings to ensure our existence on the planet for the
remainder of the time when life will still be possible here. This of course says nothing about how
difficult it is, nor does it guarantee that the potential will actually be realized. One is reminded of
the dilemma between the pessimism of the intellect and the optimism of the will, as bemoaned by
Antonio Gramsci. The question is, what are the alternatives? At the present, many development
professionals have become engaged in activities which at best can be described as tinkering with
the symptoms, and are far removed from the questions of causality. This must change, however
complicated, gigantic, and nearly impossible the task may seem.
To illustrate the problems associated with this necessarily global project, I wish to focus on the
specific case of Bangladesh. It is a place familiar to us, which is one advantage. As a physical

entity and a society, it presents certain advantage for analytical purposes. Besides, this approach
is consistent with the notion of acting locally and thinking globally!
III.

The Case of Bangladesh: the Physical Basis of the Economy

Based on the text of the Mahabharat, we can be certain that Bengal has existed as a human
habitat for at least several thousand years. It is said that during a military campaign in the East,
Bheem conquered many of the territories around Bengal, and then Bengal itself, pushing the
frontier of the Pandav Empire all the way to the sea-coast [1]. Prior to this, Bengal was ruled by
King Bashudev, who was overthrown by Bheem. These might be indications that the deltaic
Bengal was an attractive piece of real estate even in antiquity. Geological evidence points to the
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
formation of the landmass which lies in the Ganga-Brhamaputra system long before the epic was
composed [2]. It is true that rivers have changed courses many times, and continue to do so
today, but the deltaic character of the area has remained basically unaltered. The observation that
is relevant here is that the principal economic activity which could have been possible when the
author of the Mahabharat took note of Bengal must have been agriculture, and the type of

agriculture that was most likely practiced then was what was feasible in a deltaic land, which is
more or less what it is today. Thus it can be surmised that production of sustenance in a tropical
delta has been the basis of life for as long as human beings have lived here. And throughout this
long period of time the inhabitants of this particular geo-morphological entity have found their
unique ways of living with what nature has given them, and have learned to adopt themselves to
their natural surroundings. In the process they have established a knowledge-base which is
magnificent in its complexity, yet simple in its relevance to the land and making of livelihood in
it. The essence of it is the balance between satisfying human needs and the regeneration of the
material resources of production by conscious human action. The cultivators have always
recognized that the very deltaic nature of the land and the climatic cycle that prevails in this part
of the world have shaped their lives for thousands of years.
It is of utmost importance to understand that the physical basis of human existence here, on
which the society, the economy and the culture rest, is what in ecological science, is defined as a
tropical wetland. About two thirds of the country is under water at some time during the year on
a cyclical basis. In this annual cycle of various levels of standing as well as moving water are
integrated a vast and diverse yet typical flora and fauna which also contribute to the
characterization of it as a wetland. This cyclic inundation helps to keep the land fertile by helping
to redistribute nutrients. It helps to regenerate the micro and the macroinvertabrates which
convert organic matter to inorganic matter usable by vegetation, and also forms the basis of the
food chain that supports all forms of life. In recent years, scientists have come to recognize the

invaluable qualities of wetlands in supporting the planet's ecosystem, as a store house of the
genetic material for plants and wildlife, as source of clean water and provider of fish and other
aquatic natural resources and for maintaining biodiversity. In Bangladesh, it forms the material
basis of its agriculture dependent economy, the basic conditions of production. This has
determined what we grow to support ourselves, how we grow it, and what the limitations are. All
of this should be obvious, yet it is completely ignored in deliberations associated with the current
development activities. There is no awareness among the development professionals about how
this specific tropical wetland ecosystem is impacted in the short and long run when replicates of
projects created by Western technology are thrust upon it [3].
It is true that there are large wetlands in other parts of the world where they also play crucial
roles for the local as well as global ecosystems. But Bangladesh is the world's largest and only
wetland with the longest history of successful (until recent times) human habitation. The reason
this had been possible was the ability of those who lived here to maintain a balance between
human need and the requirements of preserving its integrity as a wetland. What have began to
cause a shift in this balance are practices which today stand discredited even in societies where
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
many of these were invented and practiced to tragic ends. Development policies and practices
which evolved in very alien geomorphological conditions are being imposed on Bangladesh in

the name of modernization by those, who in their arrogance, routinely disguise their ignorance of
the land, its people, their culture, and the time tested system of production. They completely
ignore the vulnerabilities of this tropical wetland ecosystem.
There are a number of questions which arise in view of the history of human beings' relation with
nature in the Indian Subcontinent in general, and in Bengal in particular. One is that of the
relative stability of the mechanics of production, while changes in the relations of production
continued over the historical period. Is it related to the awareness of the need to maintain the
balance between production process and nature? Is it the reason why, until colonization (perhaps
post-Aryan, but more so post-European) there was no widespread environmental crisis and no
significant irreversible changes in the condition of production? Did Hindu, Buddhist and other
indigenous religious ideologies and the attended cultures, by their strong de-emphasis of the
aspirations for material goods endlessly, provide a framework for sustaining the balance? Did
the lack of development of science and technology in the service of production as it occurred in
the West helped in maintaining this balance? Compared to the ambitions which drove production
processes in the West, the Indian system of production remained stagnant in the relative absence
of this force, as was noted by Marx [4] and other observers. Acceptance of the influence of
cultures which support and encourage unending "need", and therefore assume the purpose of
social and collective living to be continuous increase in consumption, requiring continuous
increase in production, eventually causing unsustainable impact on the natural environment,
seem to be the reason for the departure from the traditional relationship between the production

process and the geological and climatological facilities which made production possible in the
first place in Bengal and the Indian Subcontinent. I am aware that many of these issues have been
discussed in the past, but in different contexts. I suggest that it is necessary to reexamine them in
the light of the new awareness of our relationship with our surroundings.
IV.

What Development has meant to the Environment: Some Examples

Because of its wetland nature, and because most of the country becomes connected by water,
pollutants discharged in one location (e.g., from an industrial source) can spread over a wide area
very easily. We must recognize that it does not take a large amount of pollutants to disable the
capacity of the land to support agriculture, or ability of the water to sustain fisheries, to adversely
impact the ability of the wild life to reproduce or to cause cancer or birth defects in humans. Our
life style can also make us vulnerable under a changed circumstance. To give a simple example:
in our culture, there is no aversion to eating what in the West are known as the bottom dwelling
fish. In fact, one of our most favorite fish, rui or carp is a bottom feeder. Residues and effluent
from industrial facilities which contain organic substances and heavy metals, many of which are
toxic, often settle on land or at the bottom of waterways. These enter into micro and macro
organisms which naturally occur on land or river sediments. Fish accumulate these by feeding on
the organisms or by consuming the material directly. Eventually, they end-up in human body

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through the food chain, and being at the top of the chain, many of these substances continue to
accumulate in various parts of the human body, often with tragic consequences.
The Hazaribagh area of Dhaka city, like rest of the city, is densely populated. In its midst are
located a number of tanneries. Not long ago, while in Dhaka, I had the opportunity to visit one of
the tanneries. You may know that tanneries use a chemical solvent containing a highly toxic
substance named hexavalent chromium to strip the hair off the hide. Effluent from the tanneries
in the area run out of the facilities into open street drains, in which the children play. The effluent
end up into ditches which are separated from the Buriganga River by dikes, but eventually flow
into the river. Acres of agricultural land in the area have been contaminated. The pollutants
spread far and wide being transported by flood water. On a hot day, the chemicals in the ditches,
directly around which is located a sprawling basti where thousands of people live, exude a
strong and suffocating fume. Middle class households in the area, there are a lot of them, are not
exempt from the toxic chemicals that are in their neighborhood. Inside the tannery itself, the
workers are drenched with the chromium solution. Inquiry regarding the health of the workers
revealed that these workers are routinely fired every few months, so that the owners and
operators of these facilities do not have to deal with the health effects of the work environment.
By any standard, the entire area is a major hazardous waste site. The government officers
recognize the problem, but weakness of the political leadership in the country, close alliance of
the ruling establishment and the owners of these facilities have resulted in continuation of the
status quo, while public health and the environment are being devastated. Cases of such
disastrous impact of industrial practices are many. But this is not the source of the biggest threat
to the integrity of the natural resources, because industries constitute a small fraction of the total
economy. The biggest threat is from Western technology based agricultural practices introduced
in recent years.
With the imposition of the Green Revolution technology, far reaching changes have been
introduced in the system of production practiced in agriculture in Bangladesh. Traditional
agriculture, systematized over thousands of years of practice in the specific geomorphological
conditions, was based on the principal of regeneration of the productivity of the soil by reuse and
recycling of the biomass obtained as crop residue. It was essentially a close-cycle of production
and consumption, in which most of what was taken from nature was given back to it for
subsequent rounds. An incredible variety of crop production was practiced providing a variety in
the diet. It is said that Bengal used to produce some 1,000 to 5,000 different variety of rice alone.
The production system supported a vast fishery, the main supplier of protein. The agricultural
residues also provided most of the fodder for the farm animal and a large part of the fuel for
domestic use. Cultivation of land was rotated on a regular basis to allow time for regeneration.
The production system was truly what in the late twentieth century has come to be known as
"sustainable". In the final analysis, what was really sustained in Bengal was a viable relation
between human beings and nature.
The stated purpose of Green Revolution was to accelerate food production by the application of
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technologies invented by Western experts. I will not comment on the geo-politics and the
political economy of the Green Revolution here. For an intriguing view of what was behind it, its
impact, and because of its relevance to the Subcontinent, I recommend the book "Violence of the
Green Revolution" by Dr. Vandana Shiva [5], Director of the Research Foundation for Science,
Technology and Natural Resource Policy in Dheradun. In Bangladesh this approach to
cultivation has initiated a steady replacement of ecologically sound agricultural practices and
reduction in the diversity of the cultivated crop, which is being replaced by the so called high
yield variety (HYV). What is often not knwon by the public is that HYV also requires very high
input of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides and other agro-chemicals. It has been argued [ibid]
that if the input requirements are considered, compared to the native variety, the so called HYV
are not what they are touted to be. Less biomass is produced than the traditional variety which is
causing shortage of fodder and fuel. In addition to manufactured fertilizers, pesticides have to be
added because HYV are more susceptible to the indigenous insect population. Application of
these chemicals is destroying the microbial population in the soil which helps to break-down the
vegetation into humus material, critical for retaining the nutrients and regeneration of the soil's
richness.
In Bangladesh, what has resulted can only be described as an ever increasing drug-dependency
among the cultivators, which is not unlike cocaine or heroin addiction. According to a group of
farmers [6], every year they are compelled to buy increasing amounts of manufactured fertilizers
and other agro-chemicals to maintain the level of production. The allure of chemicals' power has
also lead to extension of cultivation in areas that were once left fallow according to local
customs. The logic of chemical-based agriculture requires addition of chemicals far exceeding
what the plants are capable of utilizing. Lack of awareness of the dangers of these chemicals
among the villagers also leads to over use. And again, because the country is a wetland, all
chemicals not taken up by the plants spread far and wide. The pesticides applied kill
indiscriminately. The insects that are killed are the ones that are food for fish, birds and other
wildlife. Loss of a number of species of wild life in Bangladesh has been reported, and a lot more
may become extinct [7]. There is a steady decline in the fisheries resources [8]. Spreading of the
residue generated by the development policies, if continued, can cause irreversible changes to the
ecosystem. It is sure to shatter the balance between the inhabitants of this land and the land itself
that has been built over a very long period of time.
Yet, the greatest danger is probably faced by the people. I wish to make a point here that may
appear redundant. It is necessary to accept the fact that toxic pollutants do not discriminate
ethnically or racially. If a substance is toxic to Americans, it is toxic to Bangladeshis as well. In
fact, people who suffer from malnutrition and poor health, as is the case for many in Bangladesh,
are more vulnerable to the affects of pollution. You may not be aware, but many policy decisions
are made based on the hideous assumption that the peoples of the developing countries have
higher tolerance to hazardous materials.
Lead has been known for a long time to be a highly toxic substance. There is well scrutinized
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
scientific evidence that it causes learning disability in children in addition to other ailments
among adults, especially pregnant women. In urban areas in Bangladesh, a major source of lead
is petroleum used by automobiles. Every one, irrespective of their social classes, are subjected to
this toxic substance from fumes discharged by motor vehicles. Exposure of the agricultural
workers, indeed of the entire rural population to agro-chemicals is extensive. The city dwellers
are exposed to them via agricultural products, especially food products. There is indication of
rising incidents of cancer in Bangladesh today. And a variety of other diseases are showing up as
well. Many of these are directly linked to the chemicals that are being discharged into the
environment. An example is the situation resulting from the Chandpur-Dhonagoda Flood Control
Project. Created at the behest of the rich farmers in the area to protect their crops, the dikes
surrounding the area have shut it off from normal flow of water. Agro-chemicals applied to the
land wash into the ponds and channels and become concentrated, since flow with the outside has
been curtailed drastically. Pollution of the water within the embankment area is so bad that
people cannot even wash themselves in it because of the skin irritations caused by the chemicals
[6]. It is my understanding that production of galada-chingri, which is of much commercial
importance to the people in the area, has declined sharply as well. Because of the long life of
chemicals in the environment, we may have already made this Sonar Bangla inhospitable for
normal habitation by the future generations.
Bangladesh has very little that is saleable in the global market. However, its inability to define a
development goal for itself that is consistent with its location on the planet, its history and
culture, as well as its weak political institutions and rudimentary public concern for the
protection of the integrity of its natural capital, can become saleable commodity for the
unscrupulous traders in the world's market place. That is why it is an attractive place to sell
obsolete technology that are unsafe for the environment and the workers. That is why it is an
attractive place for the purveyors of hazardous material in the developed countries, who are
looking for dumping grounds to dispose of waste material which the countries of origin
themselves do not know how to deal with. It is also attractive to those who are still trying to
make a buck by selling contaminated products which have been condemned and made illegal in
the countries where these are produced.
There are extensive and direct adverse economic impacts of pollution. Without getting into a
detail discussion of the subject [9], it can be pointed out that someone, although most often not
those who create the problem, always pays for pollution: either having to pay for the clean-up, or
having to seek alternate source of the impacted resources, or having to pay for health care, etc.
These costs are often not apparent, because the dominant economic theories and practices have
traditionally worked hard to make them invisible. The alternative many economists are
suggesting now to "internalize" the cost to the environment is a long overdue step to directly
account for this cost, rather than passing the burden to a weak and unsuspecting victim. However
this does not address the underlying problem of the objective limits imposed by human being's
hostile attitude towards nature with respect to its own survival. Indeed, institutionalizing of these
computations may primarily enhance profit making process, while continuing the consumerism
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
culture of the market economy.
In presenting the examples of development activities in Bangladesh and impacts these are having,
the purpose is not to analyze technical details of the projects, for it is possible to argue that the
damages can be minimized when undertaking design and construction of the projects, perhaps if
accompanied by the right kind of orientation. Neither is this an advocacy of anti-science or
technology sentiments. The criticism is not of scientific theories or technological possibilities,
but of science and technology becoming fetish. It translates in failure to understand the
disjuncture between the general and the particular. In spite of the fashionable and short period of
interest in the so called "appropriate technology", transplanting of value driven solutions of one
place to another has remained a major source of problem. The subject of inquiry here is the
related ideological context of the development process itself, and the idea is to examine why we
do what we do. Because, it is this context which drives development policies and implementation
of those policies directly, which in turn result in the destruction of the natural basis of the
production process, as can be witnessed in Bangladesh today.
To be sure, Bangladesh faces serious economic problems, and they are not unique: burgeoning
population, lack of resources, well intentioned but incompetent politicians and bad politics exist
in varying degrees in all developing countries. In view of its economic status, the norms of
modern national and global politics have lead to asking for help from the international
community. And for a whole complex of reasons, from genuine humanitarian sympathy of the
people in the developed countries for the people in Bangladesh to the machinations of world
capitalism and intricacies of global political alliances in which it has a role, though
inconsequential, the country has been receiving large sums as assistance from what is known as
the "donor community". In fact most of its development activities are financed with assistance
from outside. It is not that there is no awareness of the problems associated with forever
remaining economically dependent on the kindness of strangers. The few among the policy
makers who are trying to maintain some semblance of self respect, find themselves in a bind and
the prospect of ever escaping from the situation seems hopeless.
V.

Development: For What and How Much?

There has been a great deal of discussion since the development drive began with the onset of the
Cold War on the politics, affects and implications of the related post-colonial relationship
between the industrialized Western capitalist countries and the developing countries of the Third
World. It is generally recognized that the development agenda for the countries like Bangladesh
has been set by collaborative efforts of the international development agencies and the native
professionals and experts trained in academic disciplines which have evolved to sustain the
system of production, as well as life styles and social values of the West. What binds the
development professionals, besides the local and global class interests they try to safeguard, is
the theoretical framework. By the absolute loyalty displayed by the practitioners of the prevailing
theories of development, their complete unwillingness to question the premises within which
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they operate [10], they have turned economic theories into religion like dogma. In addition to the
academic training which is often irrelevant to the historically given local conditions in the
developing countries, the native professionals, dazzled by the developed countries, play a more
insidious role as the agent for the propagation of the dominant culture by importing to the
developing countries values and ambitions of societies which have brought havoc to the planet's
environment and its resources through over consumption, misuse and exploitation.
Although there is not enough room here to review the various theories of development, suffice it
to say that the traditional debates on this issue in general have not questioned the narrow confine
set, a priori, by the goal of economic activities: ever increasing production and consumption of
goods and services. Thus, economic development has always implied economic growth, although
in recent times the term has been in use when referring to the developing countries. The debates
on development theories have largely been centered on which of the production relations can best
ensure growth as measured in gross national product, per capita income, etc., as well as on how
to distribute the products of the economy in a more rational way to reduce the disparity between
individuals and nations [11]. The contradictions entailed in the system of production based on the
social nature of production and the private ownership of the means of production, as articulated
in struggles between the two broad classes along these lines, have lead to radical advances in
economic theories. But in the implementation of the alternate approaches, to the extent these
entailed economic activities driven by unending demand, nothing new has been achieved towards
reformulating our relationship with nature and in redefining the goals of economic activities.
Both the continued dominance of the individual and market-centered economies and the limited
experience of the collectivized economic practices have demonstrated that the argument
regarding ownership of the means of production by the individual or the collective can only be
productive if a rational correlation between biological and reproductive needs and the continued
viability of the entity which is objectively fundamental to that process can be assured. This
however, is not to ignore that the viability of the natural system itself can be threatened by
specific relations between the workers and the owners of the production system, as has been
highlighted in the present epoch.
The stated purpose of development is satisfying human needs. What is commonly understood as
human need obviously has to do with requirements of physical existence and the necessities of
biological reproduction (propagation of the species). It appears that the long period during which
production of goods and services have taken place, this driving force, human need, has assumed
dimensions that far exceed the requirement of purely physical and biological need, and has given
way to what is loosely termed as cultural need. This points to the fact that human need, in
addition to being determined by physical and biological requirements, is also historically
determined. What characterizes it is that it is open-ended. It is the absence of any limit on human
need which has operated in the background for all individual and collective activities. How
individuals and collectives have tried to satisfy these needs constitute the text of human history.
It is this loosely and very often opportunistically defined concept of human need which is at the
root of the fundamental category of economic theories known as "demand". It is only in the
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context of a culture based on endless demand can the so called runaway success of the economic
systems built on the notion of supply and demand can be explained.
The continuation of this demand is fundamental to the operations of the market economy. Its
importance is well recognized in the market place, so much so that a great deal of resources is
devoted to the constant reproduction of this demand. The literature is replete with justifications
for the creation and protection of the middle class - the bed rock of consumerism - for the success
of the market economy, and a market-based democracy to secure the economic system. It is
necessary to note that in societies which are considered developed, where the standard of living is
the measure of success, such achievements have been possible at an enormous cost. It involved
consumption of the world's resources by these countries far in excess of what is consumed by the
people in the developing countries and therefore occurred at the latter's expense. It is
accompanied by sever pollution in the developed and the developing countries and destruction of
the natural resource base of the latter who supplied the raw material for making the life which
people in the developed countries are so proud of, possible. And it has made wastage of
resources an integral part of the production process itself. Even those societies which professed a
more rational approach to the production process, in reality emulated the developed countries in
this respect, albeit within the framework of some central planning.
All major economic theories, including Marxist economic theory, have taken the open-endedness
of human needs for material goods as an axiom. Nature is seen as a bottomless repository of
everything human beings need to fulfill their exponentially growing desires. It has been the
assumption all along, in fact, it is described as a certain fact by professionals of all types that we
need not be concerned with any limits, and only limit is the delay involved in identifying our yet
unknown desires. The task then is to mold nature into yielding to our desires. This essentially is
the basis for rendering the natural world as the "externality" in the classical economic theories,
policies based on these theories, and development projects undertaken in accordance with those
policies.
Only in recent decades the problems of rapidly shrinking resources in developed and developing
countries have began to shake the very foundation of the edifice built on the idea that supply and
demand in the market place is the cure for all social and economic problems for all time to come.
Scarcities which were not imagined even a generation ago in the developed countries are forcing
the public to become aware of the magnitude of the crisis. Whereas increasing demand due to
various factors such as increasing population and rising standards of living were well known to
economists and the public, the non-availability or limitations imposed on the availability of
resources because of human actions, such as pollution, unsustainable rate of consumption of
natural resources, misuse, waste, etc., have now become causes for alarm. And unlike the past
great hurdles of the global economy, there is not much opportunity to maneuver within the
prevailing development paradigm without doing more irreparable harm.
Like other countries, the external pressures felt through the relationship of economic dependency
have been the primary vehicle for the emergence of awareness regarding environment and the
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
natural limitations of resources in Bangladesh also. Specifically, requirements to consider impact
of projects on the environment have been imposed via conditions for financial assistance by
international funding agencies. As described above, there exists a considerable internal pressure
to make it a matter of national concern, but it has not become so. Among a powerful segment of
the development policy makers there is very effective skepticism regarding the need to pay
attention to the environment and resource conservation [12]. There are also influential segments
who are convinced that the notion of sustainable development has given a new lease on the life of
traditional development policies, and/or provide a convenient disguise to ignore what they view
as worries about impending collapse of the sky. While redressing the question of unequal
consumption of the world’s resources and demand for global environmental justice continue to
be legitimate issues, the general trend in Bangladesh, as in many Third World countries, is to use
the concerns for the health of the planet as a pawn in international politics by denying or
minimizing their responsibilities and to extract more concessions from the Western countries in
the form of increased assistance.
For about two decades now qualitative changes have been observed in our surroundings which
are being increasingly linked to the quantitative changes that have been introduced by human
beings. If for analytical purposes we consider ourselves as a part of nature, but separate from the
rest, as the system, and the rest as the surrounding - to apply the concepts from thermodynamics
loosely, this can be traced to transfer of vast quantities of mass and energy from it, and waste
material and energy back into that surrounding directly as a result of human actions, and the
concomitant entropic effect. About thirty years ago an economist named Nicholas GeorgescuRoegen [13] made an intellectually heroic attempt to bring this issue into the realm of social and
economic policy making. It was heroic because attempts to apply concepts and theories that are
applicable to physical sciences such as thermodynamics can be fraught with embarrassing
pitfalls. At issue here is the empirical evidence regarding the inevitable "loss" associated with all
state of existence mediated by the absoluteness of change. By its very nature, and in the final
analysis, production process converts resources into waste. Of course, this transformation takes
place by human use of the resources. The entropy law is a generalization why waste cannot be
converted back to resource without expanding a great deal more resource. Thus, it is not possible
to attain complete desired use, i.e., extract full use-value, out of matter and energy. Roegen
pointed out the inevitability of the same principal being applicable to economic activities as well.
He argued for paying heed to this limitation in theoretical work, policies and programs. His work
largely remains ignored even now. And in spite of the dogged attempt by Roegen's intellectual
disciples such as Herman Daley [10,14], the subject of reconsidering the traditional assumptions
in support of endless economic growth remains in the periphery of economic and social policy
making.
Roegen's work forms the basis of the questions which have been raised about the inherent
limitations of nature in supporting our existence; it has raised questions about the way we use
and abuse nature; and, it has raised questions about what we can do about all of this. It is
fundamentally opposite to the axiomatic basis of classical and neo-classical economic theories. It
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Development & Environment in Bangladesh/Siddique, M. R.
leads to a most unpleasant conclusion, that we must accept limits on our desires for material
wealth, because of limitations on what is available and the adverse impact our use creates for our
future ability to derive those resources from nature. Since the initiation of the environmental
movement and the debate which ensued, what has been accomplished so far is a compromise,
which emerged during the controversies that surfaced around the time of preparation for the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992: the notion of
sustainable development. It is a compromise because while adoption of the concept of
"sustainability" is a positive step, hanging on to the idea of "development", with all that it
connotes, provides the loophole necessary for the world's development-mafia to continue
business as usual. Nevertheless, the need for a new paradigm for development has become quite
clear. And if the intellectual energy is focused on this issue, it is predicted that the need to
expand investigations beyond strictly "development issues" will become apparent, and the
importance of examining the entire spectrum of human endeavor in this context will be realized.
It should be pointed out that in the Indian Subcontinent, the effort to link development policy to
the question of the goals of development is not entirely new. It was started by Mahatma Gandhi,
who tried without success to fend off Nehru's approach based on the Western model of
development with a socialistic twist. Gandhi argued for an economic policy based on
decentralization, and less emphasis on industrialization [5, 15]. He was concerned about
uprooting India's rural population and turning them into industrial laborers and urban ghetto
dwellers. He was not convinced that Nehru's policy will improve the quality of life of the people
in India. Clearly, he was deeply concerned with the plight of India's rural poor. He hoped that it
could be addressed within the context of a rural economy, perhaps with some modifications. His
argument for limiting the ambitions of individuals and the society was not based on an
appreciation of the natural limits, but it seems that he had an intuitive sense of the nearequilibrium that had developed between expectations and potentials over thousands of years of
living on the land and was keenly interested in preserving the stability which had emerged in the
process.
There remains a burning question: what about the population increase? How can a country not
pursue an aggressive growth-centered policy while millions of people live below subsistence
level and their number is increasing rapidly? Increasing population and lack of basic necessities
for this population are problems of enormous proportion in the developing countries, and are
proximate causes of the demand on resources which have been stretched to the limit. It has to be
agreed with most of the policy makers that without solving the population problem, protection of
the environment, that is to say, practicing sustainable development, not to speak of considering a
more viable policy of collective living, is all but impossible. However, the evidence of demand
exceeding the capacity of the natural resource base even in the absence of an increasing
population are ample. Population in many of the advanced industrial countries have been falling
or have been near-steady state for some time, while rate of consumption of resources leading to
their depletion and destruction of the environment have continued unabated, reaching alarming
proportion in many cases. Population problem is not created by nature, it is a socio-economic and
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cultural problem. It is a product of human actions, conscious and unconscious, driven by
subjective and objective factors pertaining to specific conditions of social living.
What needs to be recognized is that no matter what the reasons are, population problems can not
be solved at the expense of the natural world, because there exist absolute limits. Unfortunately,
instead of tackling the problem, and not just because endless increase in population is
inconvenient for the current economic policies, but it also provides another avenue to do so, it is
more often used, internally and in international relations, for opportunistic purposes unrelated to
the problem of pursuing sustainable development. What is ignored, and which is common among
the developed countries and the developing countries is the question: what kind of collective
living is viable for the present generation, so that something similar remains viable for the future
generations?
Sometime during preparation for the UNCED, in an interview with the Minister for Environment
of Thailand conducted by a Western television journalist the following was observed. At issue
was the Thai government's policy of fueling the growth of the country's economy, which has
impressed many around the world, by devastating over exploitation of its forest resources.
Continued decline of the forest resources worldwide, its impact on local and global environment,
the related loss of biodiversity, etc., are concerns many share today, and was conveyed to the
Minister. He responded, and it is paraphrased here, that just like your people (i.e., Westerners),
our people also want to live in Waldorf Astoria (in New York), and to do so, they have to be
provided income opportunities and standard of living which will make that possible. Hopefully,
the honorable Minister was not being literal. Nevertheless, he expressed succinctly, what is
believed to be at the root of the biggest challenge human beings face today: coping with
ambitions that ha