M.A.Awal, Narsingdi :
The rivers of Narsingdi are facing threat of their existence as most of the rivers have lost their navigation and pollution of the rivers and adjacent areas are being polluted . .
Once there were boats launches and steamers in the rivers carrying goods and passengers from one district to another districts. Now it has become as dream. Continuous dumping of garbage, waste of local industries and absence of dredging operation, the bed of the rivers filled silt and rising up day by day. Beside a group of land grabbers occupied the wetbeds of the rivers built unauthorized structures on and in the rivers. Once the mighty river old Brahmaputra at Narsingdi Sadar upazila ,Haridoa river at Sadar and Shibpur upazilas ,Arilkha river at Raipura and Belabo upazilas, Sitalakh at Polash upazila were the busy rivers. Now the rivers has lost their existence, movements of boats and launches are totally stop in old Brahmaputra, Haridoa and Arilkha rivers . The rivers have lost their fishing resources due to low water flow for continuous dumping the wastes of local factories
Some 100 dyeing factories and textile industries set up over the river bank of Old Brahmaputra at Nasingdi Sadar Upazila and Sitalakha at Polash Upazila are spilling untreated toxic and chemical contaminated water into the rivers destroying its eco -system.
During a visit to bank of the Sitalakha at Ghorashal and Polash areas and Old Brahmaputra at Madhobdi area at Narsingdi Sadar Upazila on Wenesday and Thursday the correspondent found that a number of dyeing, printing and textile industries and other factories have been built by grabbing the river and factories are discharging highly toxic water into it. The large industrial establishment of the country Pran Industrial Fark, Ghorashal Fertilizer factory, Polash Fertilizer Factory Desh Bondhu Sugar mills, Seven Ring Cement, Gazi Cement, Bangladesh Jute mill, Janata Jute Mill Foji jute mill and Capital Paper Mill are also dumping factory waste and chemical mixed water in the Sitalakha river
Farmers of the areas alleged that their agriculture is being affected since the dyeing factories and industries are continuously spewing toxic industrial wastes into agricultural lands and water bodies.
They said the water of the rivers has turned poisonous.
Local alleged that although it is mandatory to set up an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in every factory before going to its operation as per the rules of the Department of environment, most of the factories are not following the rules.
They opined that government can still save the rivers stopping the factory waste and chemical mixed water in the rivers and by recovering the occupied lands of the rivers from land grabbers and by massive dredging operation.
