Let the Dead River Flow

Dhaka is celebrating its 400th anniversary as the capital of Bengal proclaimed by the Mughals
in the early 17th century. It is a strategic decision by the Mughals considering the economic
navigation and security potentials of the perennial river Buriganga !hich surrounded parts of
Dhaka. "ince then the civilisation of Dhaka #ity has been developed by the bank of the
Buriganga $iver. %he history livelihood culture and heritage of Dhaka #ity have been largely
shaped by this small but important river. &our hundred years later the river continues to play a
very important role since according to officials an average of '0000 people use the "adarghat
launch terminal one of the largest river ports in the !orld for departure and arrival every day.
But for hundreds of years the Buriganga has been continuously abused by unplanned
urbanisation and unsupervised industrialisation. %he onslaught of the resultant pollution has
virtually killed the Buriganga.
Ershad Kamol
Photos: zahedul i khan
In the present scenario, the river carries only wastewater during the seven months of the dry
season (November-ay!" #ven during the wet season no a$uatic animal can survive in the dead
river water" %hroughout the year, inhabitants near the river and thousands of people who travel
through &adarghat suffer a lot because of the foul smelling water of the 'uriganga"
Ironically the adverse impact of unplanned urbanisation was recognised even during the 'ritish
rule" (ddressing the issue the then 'ritish administration made a plan in )*)+" For almost a
hundred years, successive governments and agencies have also made several plans and the
intellectuals and civil society members have been demanding regenerating life into the dead
river" &adly, no plan has been e,ecuted properly so far"
( trip from -abtali to &hyampur is a devastating e,perience and gives a startling picture of the
e,tent of degradation" #veryone who has to travel through the 'uriganga has the similar
e,perience being almost suffocated by the stench" 'aharul (lam, who landed at &adarghat from
'hola by a launch, says, .%he bad smell of pitch blac/ water begins near 0athtoli, unshigan1,
where launches enter into the 'uriganga in their way to capital Dha/a" %ravelling through such
contaminated water ma/es passengers nauseas".
%he ongoing environmental degradation on the 'uriganga River has forced the people, who used
to live by the river, to change their livelihood" 2ollution and loss of navigability in the 'uriganga
is forcing thousands of people to become street vendors" any of the fishermen and dhopa
(washermen! who once were totally depended on the river for a living, have switched to other
professions as the rivers have become biologically dead"
0eranigan1 3pa4ila, under Dha/a district, was once home to nearly 566 fishing families, it
currently has only a handful of families who continue fishing as a source of income" %he
'uriganga at 0aligan1 of 0eranigan1 has become so contaminated that the locals have long
stopped bathing in its water" %hose who have no choice but to ta/e a dip in the river are
dangerously e,posed to water-borne diseases" .I have long been suffering from s/in rashes,7 says
(/htar 8ossain, a boatman of 0aligan1 ghat"
%he washermen too have their share of problems because of river
pollution" %hose living near the 'uriganga struggles to wash clothes in
the river during the dry season as the water becomes too filthy" #ven so,
some washermen have no choice but to wash the clothes in such dirty
water" 9hen as/ed why he was washing clothes in such contaminated
water, he replied in an annoying tone, .9e do it for a living., says
8iron Das, near Loharpool at 0amrangirchar, .Instead of as/ing the
polluters, why do you people approach us with such ridiculous
$uestions: 9hat will we do: 9ater creates s/in diseases, but we have
to continue, since we don;t have any alternative to survive".
(bout two /ilometres upstream of 0amrangirchar, at Rayerba4ar &luice
gate, through which sewage and effluents from 8aga4ibagh %annery are dumped into 'uriganga,
the scenario is even worse"
2arveen (/htar, a housewife of 'asila says, .%he water of the 'uriganga is so polluted that we
can;t use it" (nd it;s really difficult to live by the ban/ of 'uriganga that flows only foul smelling
wastes".
%he health of locals living by the ban/ of 'uriganga-%urag system is at ris/" ( survey carried out
by #nvironment and 8uman Development (&#8D! has identified diseases such as s/in diseases,
gastrointestinal diseases, dermatological diseases, hypertension and 1aundice caused by
environmental degradation of 'uriganga River" oreover, the e,istence of heavy to,ic metals
such as chromium in the surrounding areas of 'uriganga River may cause cancerous diseases"
&hipyards on the riverban/ discharge burnt oil and effluents into the river"
2ollution of 'uriganga River began in the ughal period, since the sewage of the city used to be
dumped into the river" 2rofessor untasir amoon, a historian who has been writing boo/s and
articles on 'uriganga River and other connecting canals since early )*+6s, says, .%he historical
documents state that people used to get bad smell one and half /ilometers away from 'uriganga
River even in the late )*th century" %he then 'ritish administration showed concern about the
river, since the water level used to decrease to an alarming level during the dry season"
Renowned &cottish town planner 2atric/ -eddes made a master plan for Dha/a <ity including
the 'uriganga River in )*)+" %he then administration also made some plans to save 'uriganga
from the grasp of ongoing pollution caused by domestic sewage" 8owever, the pollution of the
river was at the tolerable level till 2a/istani period" 2ersonally, I saw boat racing and boat hotels
on 'uriganga River even in the )*=6s" 'ut after Liberation, everything became Dha/a-centric"
(nd because of encroachment, unplanned urbanisation and establishment of polluting industries
2rofessor untasir
amoon"
in the city, water pollution has ta/en such a devastating shape that the river, mother of the
civilisation, has been /illed by the ;civilised; people".
.I first wrote a cover story in the wee/ly 'ichitra in )*+> with some comprehensive suggestions
to save 'uriganga River., says 2rofessor amoon" .Later, many others have also written on the
issue and many movements have been initiated with the aim to save the river, however, nothing
happened,. says the frustrated historian"
&everal studies on the 'uriganga River have identified many causes for the river;s pollution such
as sedimentation at the upstream, encroachment, and disposal of solid wastes, sewage and
industrial wastes in the river"
In the present scenario the river carries only wastewater"
'ecause of the sedimentation on the upstream, the flow of 'uriganga-%urag system gets cut off,
especially during the dry season" 9hich is why not a single drop water flows into the river
system at that time, informs the hydrologists and engineers of 'angladesh 9ater Development
'oard ('9D'!" During this period of time the system basically carries sewage and industrial
effluents" (nd because of high tide a little water comes from downstream"
#ncroachment, of course, has always been a big threat to rivers eating away the ban/s and
narrowing them further and further" 2olitically bac/ed influential land encroachers have created
illegal structures including houses, ba4aars, ghats (port!, bric/fields etc" on the river that has
created obstacles on the flow of the river" eanwhile, the dumping of wastes into the river
system has virtually /illed it"
Dha/a <ity dwellers have been dumping domestic wastes and solid wastes into the 'uriganga
since the ughal period" (fter hundreds of years, government agencies such as Ra1dhani
3nnyan 0artripa//ha (Ra1u/!, Dha/a <ity <orporation, 9ater &upply and &ewerage (uthority
(9asa!, Department of #nvironment (Do#! 'angladesh Inland 9ater %ransport (uthority
('I9%(! and 'angladesh 9ater Development 'oard ('9D'! have failed to stop disposal of
solid wastes and domestic wastes into the river bodies, state several reports on the 'uriganga
River pollution"
(ccording to several studies, each day about *66 cubic metres untreated domestic and industrial
effluents are discharged into the 'uriganga-%urag system" Dha/a 9asa has only one sewage
treatment plant at 2agla with a capacity of 6")? million cubic metres per day, which is only )6
percent of the total disposal of sewage" 'ut, because of mismanagement the treatment plant is
using one third of its capacity" (s a result, 'uriganga and other rivers and canals are Dha/a;s
main outlet of sewage waste" &tatistics say, up to @6 percent of Dha/a;s untreated sewage is
drained in 'uriganga-%urag channel" #ach day a huge volume of domestic waste of the entire
area from -a4ipur to unshigan1, is discharged into %urag-'uriganga rivers" (long the
riverban/s between 0amrangir <har 'ridge and the second 'uriganga bridge, tons of wastes are
dumped into the river every day"
&mall dyeing units on the river create
environmental degradation"
%he pitch-blac/ colour of water indicates
the alarming level of
pollution in the 'uriganga River"
oreover, ignoring any laws of Dha/a <ity <orporation, locals and vessel operators randomly
dump solid wastes into the 'uriganga-%urag system" 'I9%( sources confirm that they get huge
$uantities of discarded polythene deposited beneath the water during dredging" %he materials
from brea/ing of buildings of the riverban/s also add ha4ardous substances into the river"
%here are many other offenders abusing the river" Innumerable mechanised trawlers and vessels
ply in the rivers of Dha/a" Ignorance about the adverse environmental effects of dumping waste
materials from the vessels such as solid wastes and burnt oil and 'I9%(;s lac/ of stringent laws
against such dumping as well as lac/ enforcement, have led to large scale pollution of the river"
Aiolating the #nvironment <onservation Rule )**+, more than +,666 units of industries for
te,tiles, metals, chemicals, rubber, pharmaceuticals, cement, leather, pulp, paperboards, fertili4er,
food processing, and petroleum refining in the city area are discharging )"> million cubic metres
of untreated industrial effluents in the rivers"
%he Institute of 9ater odeling (I9!, a government established trust has identified four
industrial clusters and many other small 4ones as the ma1or pollutants of 'uriganga-%urag rivers"
%he %urag River and its multiple tributaries receive the load from the -a4ipur <luster" (s it
reaches Dha/a <ity it is 1oined by the %ongi 0hal, which carries the discharge from the %ongi
and &avar clusters" %he influ, of %urag-%ongi 0hal 1oins the 0arnatali River, the whole system is
subse$uently called 'uriganga" %he 'uriganga borders 8a4aribagh cluster, the home to tanning
industries"
Bf these clusters the hydrologists identify tanneries as the biggest polluters" -overnment
agencies do not have particular data on the number of units active in the cluster" (bout 566
tanneries including ?66 large units in 8a4aribagh are discharging C"+5 million litres of a variety
of e,tremely to,ic wastes into the river" Bn top of this *5 metric tones of solid and ha4ardous
wastes including trimmings of finished leather, shaving dusts, hair, fleshing, trimming of raw
hides and s/ins are also dumped in the area;s open drains every year"
3nited Nations Industrial Development Brganisation (3nido! notes that the chrome - containing
sludge and solid waste, especially fleshing wastes, that is generated by the tanneries at
8a4aribagh is collected by Dha/a <ity <orporation and is dumped in the landfills" %his is
shifting the pollution problem to the outs/irts of the city" oreover, the chrome containing solid
wastes of wet-blue trimmings and shavings is often incinerated in the tannery boiler oven,
resulting in the release of he,avalent chrome containing particles in the air" oreover, the
geologists have found ha4ardous heavy metals in the underground area of tanneries, since sludge,
containing heavy metals, are not of disposed properly" 8ealth e,perts claim such polluting agents
have every possibility of creating cancerous diseases"
'esides, there are many small units on both sides of 'uriganga between 'angladesh-<hina
Friendship 'ridge ) and ?, mainly located at 'abuba4ar, Din1ira, 0aligan1, 2ostagola and
&hyampur" %here are small shipyards, dyeing units and small industries at these areas that
discharge untreated washing and clinical wastes, used batteries, plastic bottles and containers,
and other discarded plastic materials and burnt oil into the river water" %hey also dump the
useless solid wastes of crushed materials into the river"
2ointing out the very low levels of dissolved o,ygen along the %urag-'uriganga river system,
which indicates the poor $uality of water & ahbubur Rahman, principal specialist and 8ead
of 9ater Resource 2lanning Division of I9, says, .'io-degradable organic pollutant,
e,pressed as 'BD5, load in the system is )+ times higher than the allowable limit of >
milligrams per litre" (part from high levels of 'BD, other water $uality parameters li/e
(mmonia, heavy metals such as (luminum ((l!, <admium (<d!, Lead (2b!, and ercury (8g!,
sulphate, chloride and others have also been detected,. he says"
#,plaining the causes of such poor water condition he adds, .ost of the industries do not have
any treatment facility for wastewaters" %reatment plants possessed by a few industries, however,
do not operate regularly" 9hile most of the industries discharge wastewater into drains or /hals
(natural canal!, which ultimately fall into nearby water courses (riversE/hals!" &ome of the
industries dump the wastewater directly on the ground" &ome of them, situated by the side of
rivers, discharge their wastewaters into the rivers through undergroundEconcealed pipes, which
are not visible from the land or water surface".
Is there no hope for 'uriganga: Fortunately there is" In order to in1ect life into the dead river
'uriganaga and %urag, there is no alternative but increasing the flow of the river" During the dry
season, the river has a flow of only 56 cubic metre per second (cumec!" Bne solution could be to
augment the rivers of Dha/a with freshwater from the Damuna River which has a minimum dry
season flow of around >566 cumec" %his will not only improve the water $uality of the peripheral
rivers of Dha/a but also will benefit water supply, agriculture irrigation, fisheries and navigation"
%his is an ideal case of integrated water resources management" ( feasibility study on this option
was carried out in ?66C by the 'angladesh 9ater Development 'oard ('9D'! in ?66C"
'oth domestic and industrial wastes carried through such canals are polluting the river"
'9D', under inistry of 9ater Resources, has already submitted a pro1ect titled
.(ugmentation of 'uriganga flow by restoring silted up lin/s with Damuna River; for the
consideration of the government" ( high official of '9D' informs that the ta/a =)6 crore
pro1ect will maintain minimum acceptable flow during the dry season through 'uriganga-%urag-
&hitala/hya river system" Implementation of the pro1ect will improve water $uality significantly
as well as the overall environment, economic and social condition" It will also e,plore the
possibility of improving agricultural and navigational re$uirement"
%he high official of '9D' plans the )@6 /ilometre long augmentation route should be New
Dhaleswari offta/e-2ungli-'angshi-%urag-'uriganga" 8e informs that the pro1ect for
augmentation has been formulated based on the results obtained from the mathematical models"
%he pro1ect will bring additional flow to %urag, 'uriganga, %ongi, 0hal and will provide enough
water for irrigation in the government;s agricultural pro1ect"
.%his additional flow ()C)cubic metre per second! in 'uriganga and %urag River system will
improve the dissolved o,ygen level of C milligrams per litre,
which is $uite satisfactory for the survival of a$uatic animals.,
continues the high official, .(t the same time the pro1ect will
help the agriculture sector of the surrounding areas" oreover,
the dredging during the augmentation will /eep the 8igh Flood
Level (8FL! lower than the present condition, which will help
the Dha/a <ity dwellers to avoid flood rate".
If the route were made +="? metres wide it would be possible to
go Narayangan1 to %angail through the augmentation 4one" In
that case the e,isting bridges crossing over the route, having
lower navigation clearance, would be upgraded to ensure
unhindered navigation" oreover, such route will help tourism
sector, since 'I9%( would be able to construct more new
landing stations at potential locations along the circular route
and along the augmentation route up to %angail and offta/e
point near Damuna 'ridge"
(fter e,ecution of the pro1ect, the only thing that should be strictly maintained is that the water
of the river system does not get contaminated by domestic and industrial wastes and disposal of
solid into the river water"
Bbviously, the e,isting poor domestic sewage system needs to be improved by installing proper
drainage facilities" 'esides, using the total capacity of the sewage treatment plant at 2agla, 9asa
must install more treatment plants so that a single drop of sewage is not discharged into the river
water" (s for the rest of the areas Ra1u/, Dha/a <ity <orporation and the pourashavas must
ensure that people use septic tan/ systems due to absence of sanitary sewer system" (t the same
time, the government agencies must provide proper facilities for routine sludging of the septic
tan/s"
%o control disposal of solid wastes into river Dha/a <ity <orporation (D<<! and 'I9%( should
wor/ together" 'I9%( must force the owners of the vessels and traders on the ban/ of the river
to dump the solid wastes at the fi,ed places provided by D<<" For any type of construction wor/
within 56 metres of the riverban/, clearance from 'I9%( should be mandatory" (ll structures,
especially bric/fields within ?66 metres from the riverban/ should be demolished" (t the same
time, the government must allocate a budget so that 'I9%( can buy sufficient dredgers for
Ignoring any laws, solid wastes
are dumped into the river"
routine dredging of the riverbed for smooth navigation" %o control the discharge of untreated
industrial effluents, Department of #nvironment and other government agencies must ensure that
the industrial 4ones follow #nvironment <onservation (ct )**+"
%he inistry of Industries must ta/e initiatives to shift the leather tanneries from 8a4aribagh to
8emayetpur, &avar with <ommon #ffluent %reatment 2lant (<#%2! facilities, which was
supposed to be done in ?66=, under the recommendation of a tas/ force on 'uriganga formed by
the government in ?66>"
%he government should approach the development partners to install <#%2 in industrial areas
including %ongi, -a4ipur and &avar so that 'uriganga- %urag river system is not affected by the
discharge of effluents from these clusters" %he 9orld 'an/ has planned to install such <#%2s
and the government should /eep pursuing the 'an/ so that it carries out the plan"
oreover, to control environmental degradation caused by the small industrial units located at
areas from 'abu 'a4ar to &hyampur, the government should consult e,perts to wor/ out a
sustainable plan considering the interest of the small industries"
#,isting laws and authorities responsible for controlling industrial pollution have to be clearly
defined in terms of their functions"
In order to improve water $uality in 'uriganga-%urag system a bill can be passed immediately in
the parliament" 2rofessor untasir amoon suggests, .%he government should realise that
unless 'uriganga-%urag e,ist, Dha/a <ity will not survive" 9hen the bill will be passed in the
parliament, it will be easier for the government to control strictly the encroachers" (t the same
time, demolishing the structures within half a mile of opposite of Dha/a <ity, a beautification
programme should be initiated" It will save the river from the encroachment, at the same time
people will get place for amusement, which is very important for urban dwellers" In fact, it
should be the top pledges of the parliamentarians from Dha/a constituency to force the
government to ta/e steps to save the rivers".
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