The recent drive against illegal structures along the bank of the Buriganga and its extension, as suggested by the highest quarters, to the bank of River Meghna apparently gives a positive impression. But it is a false impression. Encroachment on the rivers has been so extensive that many experts are of the opinion that the systematic stifling has sent the lifelines of the capital city into a coma.
This has been a long process. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the concerned district administrations have been carrying out eviction drives against encroachers for decades. But can't such drives be concluded once for all? It has been a cat-and-mouse game all through. Even the other day vendors of vegetables and fruits did not take long to display their commodities on the road space where structures had been demolished hours before in old Dhaka. The pattern is quite familiar. Usually the pictures of bulldozers bringing down structures built illegally splash pages of newspapers as if this is the last act of the drama.
Then no one follows it up. The next year or at a greater interval another such drive is conducted. The process goes on and the problem of encroachment turns out to be a never ending cycle.
However, when the Buriganga Restoration Project involving the Dhaleswari-Pungli-Bangshi-Turag-Buriganga river system was taken up in 2010 at an estimated cost of Tk 94.40 million, there was enough reason to be optimistic. Area pillars had to be planted for demarcation of the Buriganga on completion of a survey. But allegations have it that the survey was conducted rather casually and at times with the ulterior motive of giving advantage to influential encroachers. The width of the river thus became a casualty.
Now the restoration project has fallen flat on fund shortage. Only Tk 10.04 million of the total estimated cost was allocated. By this time the project period has elapsed. Dredging of the 162-kilometre river system has remained illusive. But the component of dredging was one of the most important programmes under the project. That permanent walkways along with parks and other entertainment facilities on the bank of the river, as envisioned, for reviving the health of the Buriganga have not come into being is no surprise.
Sure enough, if flow of water in the channels of the river system could be increased, the thick concentration of the waste and effluent could be dissipated. But that is no solution to the waste or effluent disposal. In fact, the foot-dragging by the tanneries of Hazaribagh for relocation of their factories to the new site in Savar has caused enormous harm to the river and the ecosystem of the area. The urgency of shifting the tanneries has also been given a cold shoulder by the authorities concerned. Or else, this issue could be settled long ago.
By all accounts, it becomes evident that the people in power do not consider the issues so vital for restoration of the river very seriously. This is unfortunate. It is not just a matter of years; rather decades of neglect have brought the condition of the river and its ecosystem to a dead end. Lack of fund for the restoration project says it all. Unless some key figure in the government pursues the issues with all seriousness, the river now in its death throes will really expire soon.
Restoration of Buriganga remains illusive
Neil Ray | Published: November 16, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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