Rivers around Dhaka must be saved to keep city liveable

RIVERS around Dhaka are dying due to slow but unbridled encroachment, dumping of pollutants and lack of dredging. Despite government efforts and higher judiciary’s repeated directives to save the rivers defeating the encroachers, rivers are turning into dead water bodies to ultimately die in near future. A national daily on Sunday made the headline saying ‘Time to declare Turag dead’ highlighting the plight of the river in the hands of the encroachers but the concerned government authorities are not acting decisively to save the rivers. Not only Turag, other rivers such as Balu river, Buriganga and Shitalakhya are also heading towards slow death. We are afraid if rivers around Dhaka die, life and environment in the city will be totally unlivable.

We all know powerful people are encroaching the riverbank and filling new land to set up new establishment. Land grabbers are using muscles and political connection to extend possession on such land. Surprisingly land grabbers have removed most of the demarcation pillars on both sides of those to make encroachment unnoticed. Moreover, the disposal of city garbage and waste are also causing siltage in the river beds. Earth filling for big real estate projects and smaller ones is also contributing to siltage and slow death of those rivers.

It is clear rivers are dying in Bangladesh because of blocking of water by India in the upstream. If those rivers had strong current from upstream they would not have been dry and encroachers not capable to grab river beds.

Pictorial view of Turag showed earth filling in the middle of the river is taking place over big chunk of river beds at many places while plantation is also growing in the previously earmarked river banks. New buildings and infrastructure have grown up which included schools and hospitals. Now other big projects are becoming visible as earth filling continues by powerful quarters under the nose of the people. But many wonder why the concerned government authorities do not see it or otherwise why they are not blocking such encroachment.

Grabbers are reportedly eyeing over 2500 acres of land of Turag river at the moment in the vast expense of the river beds around Dhaka. As per report they have removed over 1000 pillars to make encroachment easier. Balu river, Shitalakhya and Buriganga are also facing similar fate. We wonder how the High Court directive of 2009 outlining detailed measures how to recover the ailing rivers from land grabbers and save them from pollution is going unheeded. The fact is that when powerful people of the government have hands over such encroachment, nobody can save the rivers from being disappeared. Even BIWTA action issuing licenses for use of foreshore of the rivers in many cases are encouraging grabbing of riverbank.
In our view the government political commitment is important to resist the grabbers and protect rivers. Otherwise, rivers will disappear soon from around Dhaka.