Jacob Aron, reporter
(Image: G. M. B. Akash, Decaying Earth, 2011)
The consequences of environmental degradation are global, but this award-winning photograph shows how they are also urgently personal and unpredictable.
The Buriganga river in Bangladesh is one of the most polluted in the world, due to the waste that is dumped by nearby textile factories. When this mound of rubbish near the river was ignited by a stray cigarette butt, the resulting fire threatened to engulf an entire neighbourhood of makeshift homes. One man stepped in to douse the flames.
"Many people could have lost everything in this fire if Sumon had not jumped to stop the roaring flames all by himself," says photographer G. M. B. Akash "No one helped him."
This image is one of a number in the running for the British Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Environmental Photographer of the Year award, chosen from over 3000 entries. The winners will be announced at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 9 April.
Lone firefighter finds environmental harm's sharp edge
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Lone firefighter finds environmental harm's sharp edge
