GovTwin / Institution
Narayanganj District
Local Gov
An intensely industrial district immediately southeast of Dhaka, Narayanganj is the country's textile, knitwear and dyeing heartland straddling the Shitalakshya and Buriganga rivers. It is among the wealthiest districts by mean Relative Wealth Index, but that prosperity is built on factory density that has made its air the most NO2-polluted in Bangladesh.
Wealth rank 63/64
(1 = poorest district)
Warming +0.63°C
(1980s–2020s)
Air NO₂ #1/64
(1 = most polluted)
Night-lights +80%
(2014–23 activity)
Built-up 58 km²
Forest loss 139 ha
(2001–23)
Rainfall 2,105 mm/yr
Indicators: Meta RWI (HDX); ERA5-Land; MODIS; Sentinel-5P; VIIRS night-lights; GHSL; Hansen v1.11; CHIRPS v2.0. Exposure: GloFAS v2.1, FABDEM, MODIS LST, ACAG PM2.5, WorldPop 2020.
Problems and issues
- air quality Narayanganj carries the highest tropospheric NO2 burden of any district, at 177.4 umol/m2, ranking 1st of 64, driven by dense knit-dyeing factories, brick kilns and traffic feeding Dhaka. So what: Chronic NO2 exposure at this intensity drives respiratory disease and lost worker-days in a district whose economy depends on a healthy industrial labour force. Source: Sentinel-5P tropospheric NO2 via Google Earth Engine
- environment Industrial dyeing and tannery-adjacent effluent discharge into the Shitalakshya and Buriganga rivers has degraded the surface water that supports drinking, irrigation and fisheries, with only 33.6 km2 of permanent water remaining in the district. So what: Polluted rivers force costly alternative water sourcing and undercut both public health and the riverine livelihoods the district was historically built on. Source: Department of Environment
- urbanization Built-up surface has expanded to 58.5 km2, growing roughly 25 percent since 2000 as Narayanganj fuses into the greater Dhaka conurbation, often outpacing drainage, sewerage and zoning controls. So what: Unplanned densification locks in waterlogging, congestion and informal settlement risk that are far cheaper to prevent now than to retrofit later. Source: GHSL built-up surface (JRC) via Google Earth Engine
- climate disaster Daytime land surface temperature is trending up by 0.83 C with a recent mean of 28.1 C, and air temperature has warmed 0.63 C, compounding an urban heat island over a heavily paved, factory-dense landscape. So what: Rising heat in poorly ventilated garment floors raises occupational heat-stress and cooling costs for the district's dominant workforce. Source: MODIS MOD11A2 land surface temperature (daytime) via Google Earth Engine
- economy Despite its industrial base, nightlights growth of 80 percent ranks only 41st nationally, suggesting economic-activity expansion is slowing relative to faster-growing districts. So what: A maturing, slower-growing industrial economy signals the need to move up the value chain rather than rely on volume expansion. Source: VIIRS nighttime lights (annual radiance) via Google Earth Engine
Probable solutions
- Enforce stack-emission and brick-kiln conversion standards (zigzag/cleaner technology) and tighten vehicle and kiln inspection in the Narayanganj industrial belt. Responsible: Department of Environment · Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kiln Establishment (Control) Act
- Mandate and monitor functioning Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) at dyeing and washing units discharging into the Shitalakshya, with real-time effluent monitoring. Responsible: Department of Environment · Environment Conservation Rules (ETP requirement)
- Integrate Narayanganj into a coordinated greater-Dhaka land-use and drainage master plan with enforced zoning before further built-up expansion. Responsible: Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) / LGED · policy proposal
- Adopt heat-stress protocols for garment factories (ventilation, hydration, cooling breaks) and expand urban tree cover beyond the current 69 km2. Responsible: Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) · policy proposal