Editorial
Dhaka's moribund rivers
A powerful “coordinating body” to protect rivers is urgently needed
The message that has come out loud and clear from a roundtable organised by The Daily Star last Thursday on pollution of the rivers around Dhaka is that the four major rivers around the capital and its suburbs, which had for so long sustained it, are dying. The rivers are depleting not only in quantity but also in quality. And regrettably, it is the industrial units that must share the major responsibility for the present state.
This newspaper has been for long reporting on the condition of the rivers and other outlets ravaged by the effluence disgorged by mills and factories that have sprung up over the past few decades in and around the capital.
In our bid to industrialise we have paid little attention to the environment. One wonders what good progress will be if the disregard for nature and its endowments affects people's life adversely.
We are on one hand using the water of the rivers around the capital to live but at the same time constantly polluting these rivers. The most disturbing aspect is that along with the pollution of the rivers the groundwater level is also shrinking and the polluted water is percolating into the subsurface.
River pollution has now reached such a dangerous level that the question that we are faced with is not how to maintain the quality of life of the capital's population but the very real prospect of Dhaka becoming unfit for habitation if urgent action is not taken to address the matter.
The situation poses horrendous threat to public health. If water is the basic ingredient for good public health, we are confronted with a situation where water is just not available in consumable form since its content is such that it is not even fit for purification because of the very exorbitant cost of the operation. The forecast of an expert at the roundtable that in the near future there may not be safe enough water to bottle because of the amount of background pathogens should help put the matter in the right perspective.
The PM has taken up a plan for dredging of the important rivers. But mere dredging will not be enough. A holistic approach should be adopted in this regard. The major recommendations that came out of the roundtable discussion are very appropriate and should be noted, particularly that of setting up a river protection body invested with adequate power and scope to circumvent the bureaucratic impediments and take concrete actions to protect and clean up our rivers. This is an urgent necessity and the PM's personal attention is called for.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments