Mehedi Hasan Saikat, Siddirganj
Deep concerns have beenraised about the future of rivers in the Bangladesh. In continuation of this, the Shitalakshya riveris about to die due to pollution and occupancy.The river is getting polluted by the wastes discharged from various industries.
As a result, the biodiversity of the river is now under threat. Besides, illegal constructions are going on in the river by occupying the river bank. The city of Narayanganj, known as the Dundee of the East, originated around this river. At one time, the famous muslin industry was also developed in areasclose to the bank of Shitalakshya river. Adamjee Jute Mills, one of the largest jute mills in the world, was also located on the bank of this Shitalakshya.
Visiting the areas, this correspondent found that there are more than six thousand small and big industrial establishments in the capital including Shyampur, Pagla, Nayamati, Godnail of Siddhirganj, Shimrail, Adamjee, Arambagh, Demra, Konapara, Rupganj, Madanpur and Kanchpur. Polythene including Dyeing, chemical wasteand sewage waste produced by these industrial establishments are dumped into the river through various means.
Besides, sewage from canals and drains arealso released into the river. Due to pollution, the water of Shitalakshya has turned black and taken the form of tar. The strong bad odour has also increased along with this.
Locals complained that the wastes of the factories along the banks of Shitalakshya are one of the main causes of river pollution. The river water has become polluted to such an extent that the amount of dissolved oxygen in the river water has decreased below the minimum level. Experts and environmentalists believe that the omnipresent change that is about to occur in the flow of the Shitalakshya is beginning to emerge.
According to them if urgent steps are not taken at the moment to protect the river, the name of Shitalakshyariver might not exist in the map. MdAslam Mia, a local resident of Siddhirganj, said that even fifteen years ago, the water of this river was suitable for drinking by the people of hundreds of nearby villages. He bemoaned that many people used to make a living by fishing in this river. Now no one fishes in this river as it is impossible for fishes to survive in this condition.
The river is getting weaker day by day due to illegal construction of dockyards, godowns, factories and other facilities on both sides of the river.In this regard, Sheikh Masud Kamal, Joint Director of BIWTA's (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority), Narayanganj river port said, “Our authorities are working relentlessly to evict illegal establishments on the banks of the Shitalakshya river.
We have already almost finished the installation of border pillar. Work of walkways and parks on the river bank are in progress.In the last 10 years, our authorities have evicted about 2,000 illegal establishments from the Shitalakshyariver alone and imposed fines of around Tk 3 million on the owners of these establishments. So far we have been able to recover most parts of the river”. He further said, “We are striving to evict the remaining illegal establishments”.
Siddhirganj Water Development Board official Ram Prasad said, no waste from our DND pump house is dumped in Shitalakshyariver. Narayanganj City Corporation will be able to provide information on the issue of dumping waste in Shitalakshyariver. However, the polluted water that falls into this river from our DND pump house will be ceased after a while. At present work are going on under the supervision of the Army. After the completion of the work, the purified water of DND canal will be released into the river. At present, 512 cubic feet of water flows into the Shitalakshya per second through 4 pumps of DND pump house. Prevention of water pollution is not possible by the Water Development Board alone; collective work is required, he added. AB Siddique, president of the environment movement (BAPA),Narayanganj district committee, said that Shitalakshya is the lifeline of Narayanganj.But it is getting lost due to the onslaught of waste and occupancy. Although there are laws to protect the river, due to the lack of theirproper implementation, Shitalakshya is facing existential crisis.
In this regard, Deputy Director of Narayanganj District Environment Department Abdullah-Al Mamun said, our department has been working relentlessly to prevent river pollution for a long time.There are more than 400 factories on the banks of this river. We have forced 311 of them to set up Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs).Work on the remaining still in progress. Despite having ETP, some factory owners are not using with the hope of making more profit.
Therefore, we are taking legal action against the factories including extraction of fines. In addition, we disconnect gas and electricity in those factories which do not have ETP. From this month, we will conduct regular raids through the executive magistrate to prevent water pollution. There are other small organizations that cannot afford to set up ETP. Our government is conducting research on whether they can be brought under this same system under the World Bank project.
