BANGLADESH: Experts in Bangladesh say the pollution which caused the biological "death" of Dhaka's main river is threatening millions

Record ID: 262385

  • Title: BANGLADESH: Experts in Bangladesh say the pollution which caused the biological "death" of Dhaka's main river is threatening millions
  • Date: 20th May 2009
  • Summary: CHILDREN TAKING BATH IN RIVER WITH GARBAGE FLOATING NEARBY WOMAN WASHING CLOTHES NEXT TO RUBBISH CHILDREN CLIMBING OUT OF RIVER WITH RUBBISH
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bangladesh
  • Country: Bangladesh
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACM3F4FSQUFJZ0Y95SB9D28FI5
  • Story Text: The Buriganga river, which was once the lifeline of the capital, is now one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh because of rampant dumping of industrial and human waste.
    With water that looks like black gel, rowing across the river has become difficult due to the bad smell. Environmental experts believe the river, which no longer has living things in it, is threatening the livelihoods of millions.
    The plight of the Buriganga symbolises the general state of many rivers in Bangladesh, a large flat land criss-crossed by hundreds of rivers which faces an uphill battle to keep them navigable and their waters safe for human and aquatic lives.
    Bangladesh has about 230 small and large rivers, and a large chunk of the country's 140 million people depend on them for a living and for transportation.
    Residents along the river has noticed the dramatic change and agrees that it is dangerous.
    "All the waste, poisonous chemical and acids from the garments get release into this canal and that leads to the river. This pollutes the water, and causes serious health hazards, mostly skin diseases," says Kashem Ali, a resident living on the outskirts of Dhaka next to a river leading to the Buriganga.
    A World Bank study said four major rivers near Dhaka -- the Buriganga, Shitalakhya, Turag and Balu -- receive 1.5 million cubic metres of waste water every day from 7,000 industrial units in surrounding areas and another 0.5 million cubic metres from other sources.
    Unabated encroachment that prevents the free flow of water, dumping of medicinal waste and waste of river passengers have compounded the problem, making the water unusable for humans and livestock.
    "You see, when the paper mills and dying industries release all their wastes into this river, the water gets polluted. This time of the year there is a water crisis, we can't take a bath with such bad smell, we are facing a big problem," says Jashimuddin, a resident living on the outskirts of Dhaka.
    Among the top polluters are dozens of tanneries on the banks of the Buriganga. The government has initiated a move to relocate the tanneries outside the capital, and also asked illegal encroachers to vacate the river.
    "Our main demand is to make the rivers completely free from the pollution because waters are getting fully infected and polluted by the pollutants of the industries and city disposal and also the water and other dissolved pollutants of the city," said Mohammad Abdul Matin, the general-secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon or the Bangladesh Environment Movement.
    Environmentalists say the Buriganga, or the "Old Ganges" once famous for a spectacular cruise, is worst affected.
    The river flows by the capital Dhaka, a city of 12 million people, which largely depends on the Buriganga's water for drinking, fishing and carrying merchandise.
    Khawaja Minnatullah, a World Bank specialist on environment and water management says the rivers are "dead".
    "In a sense the level of contamination is one of the highest probably in the world now, and we call these rivers as biologically dead," he said Chemicals such as cadmium and chromium, and other elements such as mercury carried by the industrial waste are also creeping into the ground water, posing a serious threat to public health.
    "What World Bank is suggesting and has in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh is that, there should be an integrated package of, you know, cleaning up of the rivers and reducing the pollution load and management of the water shade," Minnatullah added.
    Bangladesh enacted a law in 1995 making it compulsory for all industrial units to use effluent treatment plants in a bid to save river waters from pollution, but industry owners often flout the rule as the plants are too expensive to use says Matin.
    But environmentalists are hopeful citing the example of the Singapore river which was highly polluted but has since been successfully cleaned up.
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