Exploratory analysis of fines for water pollution in Bangladesh

As a consequence of rapid industrialization, the waterbodies of Bangladesh have transformed into seasonal dead zones from the ensuing pollution. Despite having environmental regulations to control industrial pollution, lack of effective enforcement has jeopardized environmental quality. Evaluation of enforcement mechanisms have not gained attention from researchers until recently. This qualitative and descriptive analysis illustrates the current enforcement regime for environmental compliance in Bangladesh focusing on fines levied on polluters. Although there are no official guidelines for fines based on type of violation, this paper identified that there are differences of fines among violation based on historical data. It was also found that textile factories are not penalized heavily compared to non-textile factories. Repeat offenders were found to be penalized at the same rate. This study can be used to design appropriate penalty structure based on violation types, and reform the enforcement system so that polluters pay principle is actually implemented.