English · Letter Writing
Letter to the Editor About Environmental Pollution
A formal letter on pollution for a newspaper, with the model and the structure.
Narrow the topic before you start: a letter about all pollution says less than one about the smoke from a particular brick field or the waste from a particular market. Name the source, describe the harm to health and daily life, and end with a specific request to a named authority rather than a general appeal.
The question: Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper about environmental pollution in your locality.
The format
Narrow the topic before you begin
Environmental pollution is too large to fit in a letter, so choose one source and write about that: a brick field, a tannery outfall, the smoke from a particular market, unsorted waste at a particular point. A specific letter is both easier to write and much more likely to score well.
Heading, subject and salutation
As in every letter to the editor: The Editor, the newspaper and its address at the left, then the date, then a subject line naming the matter, then Sir. Open by asking for space in the letters column.
The fixed elements, in order
| Position | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Top left | The Editor / newspaper / address |
| Below it | The date |
| Before the salutation | Subject: … |
| Salutation | Sir, |
| First line | the request for space in the letters column |
| End | Yours faithfully, / name / address |
Body — source, harm, remedy
Name the source and where it is. Describe who is harmed and how, keeping to what a reader could verify. Then ask a named authority for a specific action — an inspection, an enforcement of an existing rule, a relocation.
- Prefer one source described fully to five listed briefly.
- Attribute anything you cannot personally vouch for: residents say, the local clinic reports.
- Ask for something that could actually be done, not for pollution to stop.
Register
Formal throughout: no contractions, no exclamation marks, no rhetorical questions. A letter to the editor is a public document, and the register is part of what is being marked.
Model answer
Model answer (about 200 words)
The Editor
Prothom Alo
Pragati Insurance Bhaban, Karwan Bazar, Dhaka
5 September 2026
Subject: Smoke from brick fields at Amin Bazar
Sir,
Through your columns I wish to draw the attention of the Department of Environment to the condition of the villages around Amin Bazar during the brick-making season.
Eleven brick fields operate within about two kilometres of Baliarpur, and from December to April their chimneys burn day and night. The smoke settles low over the fields in the cold mornings and does not lift until the middle of the day. Villagers say the paddy nearest the kilns has yielded visibly less each year for the last four seasons, and the trees along the approach road have lost most of their leaves out of season.
The effect on health is what concerns residents most. The community clinic at Baliarpur reports a marked rise in cases of breathing difficulty among children and elderly people during these months, and several families now send their youngest children to relatives elsewhere for the winter.
Fixed-chimney kilns of this type have been restricted by law for some years. I therefore request the Department of Environment to inspect these fields and to enforce the existing rules on kiln technology and distance from settlements.
Yours faithfully,
Farhana Akter
Savar, Dhaka
What earns and loses marks
- Choose one source of pollution and stay with it. A letter covering air, water, sound and soil pollution says almost nothing about any of them.
- Attribute claims you cannot verify yourself — “villagers say”, “the community clinic reports”. It is what a real letter does and it protects you from stating something as fact that you have invented.
- Ask for enforcement of an existing rule rather than for a new law. It is a more realistic request and shows a better grasp of how the problem is actually addressed.
- Avoid exclamation marks entirely; they belong to an informal register and undercut a formal complaint.
- Keep to three body paragraphs — source, harm, request.
Mistakes to avoid
- ✗ Pollution is destroying our beautiful country! We must save the environment! ✓ Eleven brick fields operate within about two kilometres of Baliarpur. — a formal letter argues from facts, not exclamations
- ✗ Everyone knows the smoke causes cancer. ✓ The community clinic reports a rise in cases of breathing difficulty. — attribute what you cannot verify
Frequently Asked Questions
One kind, and ideally one source of it. A letter about a specific brick field, tannery or waste point can give evidence, name an authority and ask for a defined action. A letter about pollution in general can only make statements, and it reads like a composition with a salutation attached.
Yes, as every exam answer of this kind does, but invent consistently and plausibly. Choose a real place you know, keep numbers modest, and attribute anything a resident rather than an official would know. Invented precision that could not exist — exact pollution readings, for instance — reads as false.
A specific, achievable action by a named body: an inspection, enforcement of an existing rule, a repair, a relocation. Ending with “the government should take necessary steps” is the weakest possible close and appears in most scripts, so anything concrete stands out.
Keep going
Model answers, formats and grammar rules for every SSC and HSC writing question.