Impact of Rice Mill Pollution on Surrounding Environment: A Case Study in Sadar Upazila, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

A study was conducted to find out the impact of rice mill pollution on the surrounding environment, agricultural production and human health status at Dinajpur Sadar Upazila through a semi-structured questionnaire during the period from October 2018 to October 2019. Nine rice mills were randomly selected and data were collected from a number of 104 respondents. Data were collected from the respondents at four distant places away from a rice mill viz. 0 meter (in and around mill area), 100, 500, and 1000 meters away. Appropriate scales were developed to measure both the independent and dependent variables by using Microsoft Excel and the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program. Results showed maximum respondents attitude (>50%) towards the impact of rice mill pollution on environment, agriculture and their health status were not positive (score was 8-15 out of 32), i.e., they were suffering from the rice mill pollutions. Study on four different distances showed that the closest surroundings were highly affected category (impact score >40 out of 60) by the rice mill pollution. The pollution effect on agricultural productivity and human health was in the highest category up to 500 meters away from the mill site, and it was found in decreasing trend (impact score <20) at the distance of 1000 meters away from the rice mills. The overall findings of the study suggest that rice mill should be established more than half a kilometer away from the human settlements and arable land to minimize the rice mill pollution hazards.