Crucial river dredging
It is encouraging to know that the government is going to dredge all rivers in the country within five or six years to ensure navigability of the rivers and protect the ecological effects. A project to restore the naturalness of all rivers is long overdue. Thanks to the Prime Ministers directive, the relevant authorities, including the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will now implement this dredging project at a cost of Tk. 21 lakh crore. As rivers of the entire country are involved, the duration of the project will be long 15 years. It is expected that this mega project will be taken seriously and dredging work will be done meticulously within the stipulated time frame.
It will be not an overstatement to say that the rivers of Bangladesh are its lifeline. Yet neglect shown to these vital geographical entities has already caused great damage to our overall environment. Many rivers of the country have dried up or are on way of going dry. Most rivers have become shallower and thinner due to massive siltation and mindless encroachment. The water of all the rivers in and around metropolitan areas has become seriously polluted so much so that there is now no aquatic life in them.
Not long ago, many people living near Buriganga, Shitalakhya and Turag rivers used to depend on the fish resources of these rivers for their livelihood. Catching fish in these rivers has long ago become a thing of the past. Anyone who once visited Sadarghat, or any places near these rivers in Dhaka city, knows well that one cannot breathe air freely without putting handkerchief or something on their nose. Such has become the smell of the black water of these rivers. Untreated industrial effluence is still in many places polluting these rivers. The state of the rivers all over the country clearly tells one thing: as a nation we do not know the value of our rivers. Had its opposite been true, the rivers would not have come to such a pass. Now is the time to restore these natural water sources and restore sustainably. Taking care of the rivers is a permanent work. The relevant authorities of the government have to continuously work for them. Besides dredging and protecting them from encroachment and pollution, it is equally important to sensitise people about the value of the rivers through organizing campaign programmes.
