Committee to breathe life into polluted rivers

The government has formed a steering committee to restore life into the terribly polluted rivers around Dhaka city, including the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitlakhya, Tongi khal, and Dhaleswari. The committee will comprise representatives of 21 departments, led by the chief of naval staff Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed.
Pollutants in these rivers contain 60 per cent industrial wastes, of which 37–40 per cent comes from tanneries. Others include 15 per cent solid wastes, polythene, and effluents from hospitals, brickfields, and dockyards.
The remaining 10 per cent consist of pollutants from river vessels, say experts. On an average, 4,500 tonnes of garbage and 22,000 litres of poisonous tannery wastes are directly dumped into these rivers every day. Just the 29 factories in Tongi area discharge around 7,159 kg of untreated industrial waste into the river daily. As a result, aquatic life, both flora and fauna, of the rivers is already extinct.
“We have formed a committee comprising the Navy, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and police. Besides, the representatives of the ministries of law, shopping, industries, environment, local government and rural development (LGRD) and land, the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Dhaka North and South City Corporations, the chairpersons of the National River Commission, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the deputy commissioners (DCs) of Dhaka and Narayanganj are part of the committee,” shipping minister Shajahan Khan told The Independent.
The committee will find a solution and clean the rivers, he said in reply to a query. On being asked whether the rivers could actually be cleaned, he pointed out that many polluted rivers like the Thames, the Cuyahoga, the Sarno, and the Rhine have been cleaned. “So, it is not impossible to free our rivers of pollution,” he said.
The committee has short-, middle-, and long-term plans for the task at hand, Shajahan Khan said, adding that the committee will raise awareness among people to stop dumping garbage into the rivers. It will prepare a budget to procure dredgers and other equipment to clean the rivers. “We welcome the government initiative to clean the river. Coordinated steps are needed to clean the city’s rivers. We
have long been demanding to free the rivers of pollution,” Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), told The Independent.
Most of the riverbanks have been occupied by influential groups under political blessings, he alleged. “The government must deal with them with an iron hand. For example, the Adi Buriganga channel has been grabbed by some political cadres under a local leader,” he said. “We hope the steering committee can evict all the encroachers from the riverbanks,” he added.

Committee to breathe life into polluted rivers

The government has formed a steering committee to restore life into the terribly polluted rivers around Dhaka city, including the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitlakhya, Tongi khal, and Dhaleswari. The committee will comprise representatives of 21 departments, led by the chief of naval staff Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed. Pollutants in these rivers contain 60 per cent industrial wastes, of which 3740 per cent comes from tanneries. Others include 15 per cent solid wastes, polythene, and effluents from hospitals, brickfields, and dockyards. The remaining 10 per cent consist of pollutants from river vessels, say experts. On an average, 4,500 tonnes of garbage and 22,000 litres of poisonous tannery wastes are directly dumped into these rivers every day. Just the 29 factories in Tongi area discharge around 7,159 kg of untreated industrial waste into the river daily. As a result, aquatic life, both flora and fauna, of the rivers is already extinct. We have formed a committee comprising the Navy, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and police. Besides, the representatives of the ministries of law, shopping, industries, environment, local government and rural development (LGRD) and land, the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Dhaka North and South City Corporations, the chairpersons of the National River Commission, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the deputy commissioners (DCs) of Dhaka and Narayanganj are part of the committee, shipping minister Shajahan Khan told The Independent. The committee will find a solution and clean the rivers, he said in reply to a query. On being asked whether the rivers could actually be cleaned, he pointed out that many polluted rivers like the Thames, the Cuyahoga, the Sarno, and the Rhine have been cleaned. So, it is not impossible to free our rivers of pollution, he said. The committee has short-, middle-, and long-term plans for the task at hand, Shajahan Khan said, adding that the committee will raise awareness among people to stop dumping garbage into the rivers. It will prepare a budget to procure dredgers and other equipment to clean the rivers. We welcome the government initiative to clean the river. Coordinated steps are needed to clean the citys rivers. We have long been demanding to free the rivers of pollution, Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), told The Independent. Most of the riverbanks have been occupied by influential groups under political blessings, he alleged. The government must deal with them with an iron hand. For example, the Adi Buriganga channel has been grabbed by some political cadres under a local leader, he said. We hope the steering committee can evict all the encroachers from the riverbanks, he added.