Dredging a must for saving rivers

Countless rivers, rivulets and canals are the lifelines of the Bangladesh economy. But then, all these sources of water that serve waterways, irrigation, fisheries and millions of people in their daily chores are fast drying up due to utter carelessness and negligence.
Bangladesh is now set to miss a unique chance of storing huge waters that bless the country in rainy season for its use for irrigation and other needs.
A painful sight unfolds before one who knew the vast Gumti River in its original shape near Daudkandi in Comilla district as it is drying up now. It has already developed shoals which are now being cultivated and houses are being built there illegally under the very nose of the administration. Unabated land grabbing goes on with none in the corridors of power taking care of the Gumti to keep it navigable round the year.
Then there is the Dhonagoda River, a tributary of the Meghna River. Once the river was full of fishes and frequented by motor launches from Matlab to Dhaka and Narayanganj.
The Dhonagoda river water used to irrigate farmlands of millions living in Daudkandi, Matlab and Kachua upazilas.
But sadly, the river is now fast approaching its premature death at Nayergaon Bazar point where the width between the western and the eastern banks is now just a few feet. When the Nayergaon part of the river will dry up, farmers will have to beat their chests in utter agony as they will not have any more water to irrigate their farmlands, use boats to carry their agricultural produces to markets, catch fishes to meet their nutritional needs and use the water for their daily living.
A brick kiln, built near the Kauadi Bridge, the last link between the Matlab and Daudkandi upazilas, has possibly caused the narrowing of the river to the verge of its death.               
All these only point to a national disaster that is looming over almost every part of the country in the days ahead with none to take care of dying rivers, rivulets and canals.
Who's really to blame for such an impending catastrophe? Just see what is happening to the Gorai River. As a FE report said, the government had allocated Tk 9.42 billion for its restoration but irregularities and shoddy works have eaten up most of the funds. As a result, salinity remains where it has been and water flow in the Gorai River is where it was, according to an evaluation report of the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).
The salinity of the Gorai River has even increased, water flow has not improved and the river erosion is continuing even after so-called completion of the major portion of the project in the past five years.
A survey of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) says there are 310 rivers in the country. Of these, 57 are border rivers, the condition of 175 is miserable, and 65 are almost dead. Eighty per cent of the rivers lack proper depth. The latest study of the BIWTA reveals that 117 rivers are either dead or have lost navigability. Such rivers/canals include the Brahamaputra, the Padma, the Mahananda, the Gorai, the Meghna, the Titas, the Gomati, the Kushiara, the Dhaleswari, the Bhairab, the Sitalkhya, the Turag etc.
Sadly, about 75 per cent of our river routes have lost navigability due to silting. To obviate the problem of lack of capacity to dredge them, it appears to be advisable to try greater utilisation of our idle manpower through food for work programme in addition to continuous dredging with our available resources.
Saving all these rivers needs planned dredging, river training and socio-economic development. Another less costly device may be 'bundling' through utilisation of bamboo and chatai (mat). However, it needs a vigorous concerted effort by BIWTA, BUET and River Research Institute to make such a project successful.
Happily, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is fully aware of the death throes our rivers are in today. That was why she directed deployment of two fulltime dredgers at the estuaries of the Karnaphuli connecting Chittagong seaport and Pashur River linking Mongla seaport to the Bay to keep the channels navigable round the year. She assured that the Dhaleswari, the Kapatakkha, the Turag, the Balu and other rivers will also be dredged in phases. At the same time, maintenance dredging will have to be continued periodically. She lamented that most of the country's 310 rivers are dying and losing water-preserving capacity for lack of dredging.
Dredging was not continued regularly in Bangladesh after the Second World War, which resulted in the present polluted, silted condition of most of the rivers. The PM even noted that the rivers are just like arteries of human body. "If we can save our rivers, our existence will be saved. We must have a total action plan immediately. There should not be any delay in this regard. Our rivers must be saved."
The cabinet approved formation of a River Commission to deal with issues relating to dredging of the dying rivers last year. But there is no progress yet in this regard.
But the million-dollar question is: Who'll do the needful?
arjayster@gmail.com