How Buriganga river can be revived by

political influencial

The Buriganga is economically very important to Dhaka. Launches and country boats provide
connection to other parts of Bangladesh, a largely riverine country. When the Mughals made
Dhaka their capital in 1610, the banks of the Buriganga were already a prime location for trade.
The river was also the city's main source of drinking water. Today, the Buriganga river is
afflicted by the noisome problem of pollution. The chemical waste of mills and factories,
household waste, medical waste, sewage, dead animals, plastics, and oil are some of the
Buriganga's pollutants. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4,500 tons of solid waste every day
and most of it is released into the Buriganga.[citation needed] According to the Department of
Environment, 21,600 cubic metres (5.7 million US gallons) of toxic waste are released into the
river by the tanneries every day.[3][4][5] Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the
capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo,
Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal. Most of the
industrial units of these areas have no sewage treatment or effluent treatment plants (ETPs) of
their own.

The government had taken up the project to clean up highly polluted rivers such as the
Buriganga, Turag, Balu and the Shitalkhya by injecting fresh water from the Jamuna via the New
Dhaleswari, Bangshi and the Pungli through a 162-km-long lifeline. The project was meant to
revive the near extinct aquatic life of the Buriganga as well as restore the livelihood of local
fishermen.The Buriganga is economically very important to Dhaka. Launches and country boats
provide connection to other parts of Bangladesh, a largely riverine country. When the Mughals
made Dhaka their capital in 1610, the banks of the Buriganga were already a prime location for
trade. The river was also the city's main source of drinking water.

Today, the Buriganga river is afflicted by the noisome problem of pollution. The chemical waste
of mills and factories, household waste, medical waste, sewage, dead animals, plastics, and oil
are some of the Buriganga's pollutants. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4,500 tons of solid
waste every day and most of it is released into the Buriganga.[citation needed] According to the
Department of Environment, 21,600 cubic metres (5.7 million US gallons) of toxic waste are
released into the river by the tanneries every day.[3][4][5] Experts identified nine industrial areas
in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon,
Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and
Ghorashal. Most of the industrial units of these areas have no sewage treatment or effluent
treatment plants (ETPs) of their own.More than 60,000 cubic metres (2,100,000 cu ft) of toxic
waste, including textile dying, printing, washing and pharmaceuticals, are released into the main
water bodies of Dhaka every day.[citation needed] According to the Dhaka Water and Sewerage
Authority (WASA), about 12,000 cubic metres (420,000 cu ft) of untreated waste are released
into the lake from Tejgaon, Badda and Mohakhali industrial areas every day. The waste mostly
comes from garment washing and dyeing plants. Textile industries annually discharge as much
as 56 million tonnes of waste and 0.5 million tonnes of sludge. Sewage is also released into the
Buriganga. A newspaper article from 2004[6] indicated that up to 80% of Dhaka's sewage was
untreated. Because of Dhaka's heavy reliance on river transport for goods, including food, the
Buriganga receives especially high amounts of food waste since unusable or rotting portions of
fruits, vegetables, and fish are thrown into the river.

The Buriganga river restoration project, which was taken up in 2010 by the Bangladesh Water
Development Board (WDB), has virtually failed to take off even after spending Tk. 330 crore in
the last nine years for various reasons. According to green activists and experts, the project could
have been completed in time had it been implemented by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport
Authority (BIWTA) as it has the expertise and logistics to do such work.Six years since the
project work began, WDB officials, in 2016, proposed construction of a sediment basin in the
offtake of the New Dhaleswari river. The deadline of the project, which was scheduled to be
completed by December 2013, has been extended thrice, pushing up the total project cost to Tk.
1,125 crore from Tk. 944 crore.So far, no visible work has been done by the WDB, though it has
already spent Tk. 330 crore till date, sources concerned said.The WDB had taken up the 162-km-
long New Dhaleswari-Pungli-Bangshi-Turag-Buriganga River System Project in April, 2010, to
clean up the rivers girdling the city and restore navigation by bringing fresh water from the
Jamuna to the Buriganga.A total of 68 hectares will be needed to construct the sediment basin at
the mouth of the New Dhaleswari, Saidul Islam Khan, executive engineer (central zone) of
WDB, told The Independent yesterday. “A total of Tk. 330 crore has been spent for dredging the
river till date. About 55.91 km was manually dredged from the offtake of the Dhaleswari via the
Pungli to the Basail in Tangail through excavators. Besides, 6.95 km of the Turag was dredged
as well. In addition, dredging work on a 15-km-long stretch at Kaliakoir in Gazipur is also on,”
he added.All steps have been taken to construct a 1.53-km-long sediment basin in the offtake of
the New Dhaleswari, Khan said, adding that the ministry concerned has already instructed the
local administration to acquire 68 hectares for the sediment basin.“We have already sent the
developmentproject profile (DPP) to the planning commission for amendment, keeping the
project cost unchanged. We have received theestimate of land acquisition. So, it would be
possible to make the project work visible by 2020,” Khan claimed.Asked about the failure to
complete the project in time, Khan said: “We are working on the project, which is likely to be
completed by 2021.”Talking to this correspondent, officials of the Tangail district administration
said they have already received the landacquisition proposal from the WDB and completed all
the formalities in this regard.“We think WDB officials didn’t make their design properly. It was
a faulty design. They should explain why they failed to complete the project in time,” Abu Naser
Khan, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), told this correspondent.He alleged that
some WDB officials are involved in making money by  renting out their dredgers. “The WDB
has at least 39 dredgers. Why are they doing dredging work through private dredgers? Is their
any necessity to keep this dredger fleet spending crores of taka?” he wondered.The WDB has
virtually failed to complete the project despite extending the project period several times,
Emdadul Haque Badsa, a river researcher, told this correspondent. The dredging performance of
the BIWTAis better compared to the WDB. “So, had the project been implemented by the
BIWTA.
Green activists have sought the engagement of army to revive the dying Buriganga River as the
lack of strong political will, concerted efforts, enforcement of laws and faulty demarcations
stood in the way of its revival. They said it was not supposed to take too much time to save the
Buriganga and other rivers surrounding the capital had the government implemented with a
commitment the directives of the High Court gave on June 25, 2009 to revive the rivers. Under
the circumstances, some environmentalists have suggested engaging army after taking a
Hatirjheel-like project to remove the piles of garbage and deposits of sand and soil from the
Buriganga, plug the sources of pollution and recover its grabbed land and construct walkways
along its banks. Contacted, chief executive of Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) Syeda
Rizwana Hasan told UNB that the main barriers to reviving the rivers surrounding the capital,
including the Buriganga, is the lack of the government’s strong goodwill and enforcement of
laws. Being government institutions, she said, Dhaka Wasa and two city corporations dump their
wastes into the rivers flouting laws. “When the government agencies are breaking laws how
action can be taken against private companies and individuals for polluting the rivers!” Rizwana,
however, said it would not had taken a long time to rive the Buriganga and make it free from
pollution and grabbing if the government had sincerely implemented the High Court’s directions
in this regard without buying time. Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Haque was
successful in removing Tejgaon truck terminal, many illegal structures and billboards due to his
strong political commitment, and support and enforcement of law. “If such an initiative is taken
for the Buriganga, it’ll, of course, be free from grabbing and pollution.” Chairman of Poribesh
Bachao Andolon (Poba) Abu Naser Khan said there are two major challenges -- stopping
pollution and encroachment of rivers - to bring life back to the Buriganga and other rivers
surrounding the capital. “Despite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s strong directives to save the
rivers by recovering grabbed land, no strong drive and initiative in this regard are visible. Land
grabbers are very powerful having political clouts, muscle power and nexus with the
administration. So, without a strong political will and enforcement of laws, it won’t be possible
to contain the rive grabbing and recover its occupied lands,” he said. About pollution, Naser said
most industries -- both formal and informal ones -- do not have effluent treatment plants (ETPs)
while those have do not operate them regularly for lack of the enforcement of law and
monitoring. Besides, new sources of pollution are increasing every day for unplanned
industrialisation and urbanisation. General secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA)
MA Matin said it is a matter of deep regret that the Buriganga is yet to be saved despite the
Prime Minister’s repeated directives in this regard and formation of the National River
Protection Commission and task force. He said the High Court in 2009 clearly defined the three
parts of rivers -- bed, foreshore and bank - and asked the authorities concerned to determine the
exact boundaries of the Buriganga and other Dhaka rivers and install pillars on their banks. It
also asked to construct walkways and plant tress along the riverbanks and continue drives against
pollution. But, Matin said, the authorities deviating from the HC order wrongly demarcated the
rivers and set up pillars in most places in riverbeds, excluding foreshore, creating a scope for
grabbers to encroach upon those foreshores and banks. According to him, it will not be possible
to stop the encroachment of Dhaka’s rivers and remove illegal construction on their lands until
the demarcation pillars are not installed as per the HC order. Talking to UNB, Joint Secretary of
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon architect Iqbal Habib said he thinks the lack of accountability and
coordination among different government institutions, proper planning and sincere efforts of the
government are the main barriers towards archiving success in protecting the Buriganga and
other rivers around the capital. He said Dhaka Wasa and city corporations should immediately
set up their won waste treatment plants instated of dumping those into the rivers. Bapa another
Joint Secretary Mihir Biswas said a direct intervention from the Prime Minister is need to save
Buriganga. “She (PM) also can either assign any party leader with necessary power to protect the
river or engage army under a project like Hatirjheel one.

Protection and management of the Buriganga River have been a great challenge
at present. Encroachment of this river is one of the burning questions of today’s
modern world. Encroachment is done with an intention of more profit in trade
and business. Numerous private land development activities, housing projects,
industrial development as well as landfilling contributes to a large extent to-
wards the encroachment process. Encroachment possesses great threat to our
surrounding environment which leads to degraded ecosystem, poor economy as
well as poor public health. Key strategy for controlling the encroachment must
be based on the principles of Environmental Conservation Actions. Both Gov-
ernment and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) must come forward by
taking necessary measures to control the encroachment or to minimize the
harmful impacts of it. This encroachment ultimately leads to increased protec-
tion and restoration of the river. Further detailed study is needed with more en-
croached areas of the river to get overall situation of the river encroachment.

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