Urgent need for an independent river commission

A large number of the rivers in the country are in the throes of death due to reckless encroachment and lack of adequate dredging for removing heavy silts. Aware of the great importance of rivers, one of the two ministers from the Jatiya Party asked the heads of district administration at the just-concluded national conference of the deputy commissioners in Dhaka to stop encroachment and pollution of rivers now going on in their respective areas. The DCs were also directed to seek the concerned ministry's advice when they would be under political pressure from vested groups to lease riverine lands. The minister asked the DCs to let his Water Resources Ministry know about it. How far his order will be implemented without concurrence of the Shipping Ministry remains to be seen.

The directives clearly show the government's awareness of how rivers are being grabbed indiscriminately on flimsy pretexts. The condition of rivers in far-flung areas can easily be understood when the Dhaka and Narayanganj district administrations, just lying in the corridors of power, have miserably failed to protect the Buriganga, the Turag, the Balu and the Sitalakkhya from being squeezed through grabbing and pollution. Even a leading environmentalist group, the Bangladesh Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Bapa) has already blamed certain ruling quarters for legalising and encouraging encroachment along the shorelines of the river Buriganga. This was done courtesy of controversial and improper surveys and in violation of an order of the apex court. Defying the High Court verdict, the encroachers continue grabbing the land of the Buriganga with assistance from a section of government employees. In addition, the authorities entrusted with protecting the river legalised and encouraged the encroachers. The Dhaka district administration sets up demarcation pillars along the Buriganga over and over again, and thus legalises illegal encroachment and wastes money, it alleged. Due to illegal encroachments in Pagla, Fatullah, Aliganj, Dakkhin and Pangaon, the river has been reduced to a narrow stream.

It would have been better had the task of saving the rivers with adequate powers been given to the planned National River Protection Commission which was approved by the cabinet not long ago. The government also has a legal obligation in this as the High Court on July 19, 2009 ordered forming a commission which would be the highest authority in protecting rivers. The commission is supposed to advise the government and coordinate the activities of ministries involved in management of water and rivers. The river commission was, of necessity, to comprise a chairman and four members, including a hydrologist, an environmental expert and a lawyer. A new commission was to be formed every three years and it would submit the annual report to the president by March 31 every year. The related National River Protection Commission Act could help the government take legal action while protecting rivers as well as other water bodies from encroachment, pollution and unscrupulous use.

However the proposed commission, as evident from terms of reference, will just be another recommending body without any statutory power. It would not be able to take any action if any decision is not implemented. But the commission should be allowed to work as an independent institution, not just as a government office. The commission will fail to work properly because it has got no statutory power. The government already has 14 authorities and agencies involved with different aspects of river management. These bodies, lacking coordination, have so far failed to agree even on the number of rivers crisscrossing the country. Against the backdrop of alarming shrinkage of waterways as well as pollution, setting up of the proposed commission with powers to act independently is a must.