The government has initiated moves to revive the circular waterways around the capital by raising the height of low bridges to prevent them from acting as barriers to the movement of cargo and passenger vessels. Meanwhile. the first meeting of the steering committee formed to combat city river pollution and encroachment, headed by local government and rural development minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, has been slated for February 2. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) chairman Commodore M Mozammel Haque told reporters about the plan while interacting with the Shipping Reporters' Forum of Bangladesh (SRFB) at the BIWTA conference room yesterday. The forum’s former president Anisur Rahman Khan, acting president Harolal Roy Sagor, vice-president Farukh Khan, general secretary Kazi Jebel Ahmed, Mohosinul Karim, Rashed Ali, Toriqul Islam Sumon, Gazi Shahnewaz and Touhidur Rahman were also present.
BIWTA members, chief engineers and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
BIWTA director Mahmud Hasan Selim presented a paper before the journalists, elaborating the activities of the government regulatory authority for the water transport sector.
“Most of the low bridges have already been demolished. Now, two railway bridges at Tongi, two bridges of the roads and highways department in Ashulia on the Turag river, and the Babubazar bridge on the Buriganga river are posing a problem  circular waterways. The bridge authorities have taken initiatives to upgrade these bridges,” Mozammel Haque said. He said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has formed a committee led by Khandker Mosharraf Hossain. The shipping minister, environment minister, Navy chief, BIWTA chairman, officials concerned and local public representatives are its members.
“The committee will hold its first meeting on February 2 to finalise the terms of references (ToR) and plan of action. It will also resolve disputes regarding boundary pillars installed earlier by the district administration, after fixing the boundary lines of the rivers surrounding Dhaka city, to demarcate the rivers,” he added.
This segment of transportation had been ignored by previous governments. As a result, the length of the waterways has decreased to around 4,500 km in the dry season from 24,000 km.
“Most of the rivers have lost their navigability. They have become polluted. A major portion of the their banks are now occupied by illegal encroachers. This could not be prevented due to the non-cooperation of the authorities concerned. Comprehensive measures have been taken to clear the river banks of encroachers and block the sources of pollution,” said the BIWTA chief. The government wants to ensure navigability of the rivers as water vessels, the low-cost mode of transport in the country, can be operated on them. It will help the government ensure environment-friendly transport in the country.