Set up Buriganga Authority
The manner in which the Buriganga is being 'killed' defies reason or rhyme, not to mention logic. While pollution is killing the river's soul, encroachment and filling-up of banks for construction purposes are threatening its physical existence. Now it appears that high discharge of toxic effluents into the waters by the old culprit, tanneries in the Hazaribagh and Rayer Bazar areas, and unidentified demons has caused a major epidemic among the fish population of the Buriganga. Taken together, it appears that this wonderful gift of nature is gradually but inexorably being massacred by the greed of humans.
The current situation represents a supreme irony. Rivers are usually the life-blood of any city, and those metropolises which are endowed with major waterways, have learnt to take great care to protect this treasure and utilise it for the benefit of their citizens. Dhaka was founded where it is today because of the Buriganga. The river was supposed to provide food, nourishment, source of water, easy communication, scenic setting etc., that would allow the city to grow and prosper. But now we appear to be eating up the river and, by the time we do so, Dhaka will have eaten up its very own life force. The biggest tragedy is that the impending disaster is wholly man-made, which could have been prevented.
However, there is still time to save and restore the Buriganga to its natural state, if the government has the will to make some determined efforts. The situation has gone so far out of hand that no piecemeal measure would do. What we need to have is a Buriganga River Authority, which would be empowered to develop both the water resources and the banks of the river. The Authority's task should be to clean up the river, restore its natural flow, conduct dredging to increase both its depth and width. The Authority would naturally have to have wide-ranging powers to deal effectively and swiftly with encroachments and maintain high water quality through strict control over effluent discharge. The idea should be to develop the river as a major medium of communication, leisure as well as agricultural and fisheries activities. The river's banks can then be developed to accommodate housing, commercial and entertainment establishments. In other words, revival of the Buriganga ought to represent the revival of Dhaka.
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