Over 11 years have already elapsed but the Buriganga River Restoration Project, taken to revive the Buriganga and other rivers surrounding the capital city has not been implemented yet. The government took the five-year Buriganga River Restoration Project, encompassing New Dhaleswari-Pungli-Bangshi-Turag-Buriganga river system, with an outlay of Tk 944 crore in 2010 to revive the rivers through dredging a 162-kilometre river system. The project cost has been revised two times while its timeframe extended five times and now the project cost stands at Taka 1125.59 crore.
Under the project, the water development board will increase 141 cusec water flow of the Buriganga River by bringing 245 cusec water flow from the River Jamuna during the dry season. The project has so far witnessed 82 percent progress till date while the prime minister asked the executing agency concerned to implement the project ahead of the extended timeframe of June this year. But the fund crisis and unplanned development of structures like bridge and illegal encroachment of river banks are major barriers to the project implementation.
The rotten stench originating from the polluted waters of Buriganga, Dhaleswari, Pungli, Bangshi and Turag has already spreading in and around the rivers’ bank as their waters quality has deteriorated seriously. However, things improve for two to three months during the monsoon.
The government should take
necessary steps to expedite the pace of the
project work as 12 years have already gone by
If the project would have been implemented within the timeframe, the water flow and navigability of these rivers including Buriganga would increase during the dry season and the intensity of pollution would also be decreased.
But due to unchecked disposal of industrial and household wastes in the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya rivers, their ecosystems have been destroyed. No aquatic life or organ can survive in the rivers during the dry season for lack of dissolved oxygen (DO).
About 50,000 metric tons of wastes including 60 percent industrial are dumped in the Buriganga and other rivers surrounding the capital Dhaka. The authorities concerned must frame a master plan with the joint efforts of the LGRD and water resources ministries to maintain the navigability of the rivers alongside protecting the rivers from wastage within the fresh deadline.
All must keep in mind that industrial wastage alongside household wastage cannot be poured into the rivers, and construction of an integrated effluent treatment plant to recycle the wastage is a must in this regard. Therefore, the government should take necessary steps to expedite the pace of the project work as 12 years have already gone by.
