Help out our heritage--Karnaphuli

Industrial wastes and effluents contain heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, As, Hg, Ni, and Zn, some of which are toxic for plants, animals as well as soil and air. These toxins make their way into food chain. The Karnaphuli is the most important river of the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. And it also happens to be one of the most important rivers in the artery of 54 international rivers of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a land of rivers, boasting about 230, big and small. Of the rivers, 54 are shared with upper-riparian India. All these rivers branched out of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers system of the Himalayan origin. They are following through Nepal, India and Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
A huge delta of 144,570 square kilometres has been formed by giant rivers Meghna, Padma and Jamuna and their innumerable tributaries, which constitute 71% of the inland perennial waters.
The delta is home to one of the richest inland fishery resources of the world.
The ecological characteristics of the country are readily suited for the development of aquatic life and, as such, the fish fauna of the country is varied and rich in the number of species.
Chittagong, the second-largest mega-city and main industrial zone of the country, is situated on the bank of river Karnaphuli. The river originates from the Lusai Hills of Mizoram union territory, India, and then enters Chittagong from the northeast corner of Chittagong Hill Tracts at latitude 25.30'N and longitude 92.27'E and falls into the Bay of Bengal at 22.14'N and 91.47'E at Patenga, leaving the Chittagong City on its right bank, after travelling a course of about 185 kilometres.
The Karnaphuli is narrow towards its head and progressively wider near its mouth. It is 30.5 kms from Kalurghat and 19.5 kms from Chittagong Shah Amanat Bridge. The average channel depth of the basin at the mouth of the river is about eight metres; it is 3-4 metres in Shah Amanat Bridge and at Sadarghat area and 10-13 metres in the area of the port.
Among a lot of tributaries, the river Halda (only natural carp-breeding ground in the country) contributes about 48% of the flow rates of the Karnaphuli. The annual maximum daily discharge Cu m/second and the annual average 260 Cu m/second were recorded at Patenga by Bangladesh Water Development Board in 1995.
Kaptai hydroelectric dam contributes and controls the flow rate of this river. Due to the recent cutting of hills and destruction in Chittagong city area and in the district in the rainy season, a large amount of sands and mud particles increases turbidity and decreases navigability. Recent dredging activities increase the activity of silting of the river.
There are 30 tributaries related to the river in its 85.5-km courses from Kaptai Dam to the river mouth. Some of them are Halda river, Kalurghat Khal (canal), Isamati Khal, Boalia Khal, Rakhalia Khal, Boalkhali Khal, Chaktai Khal, Rajakhali Khal, Shikalbaha Khal, Dengar Char Khal, Gupta Khal and Mohesh Khal.
The river bears a load of wastes (solid and liquid) of about 300 industries - small and big - 98% of which have no effluent-treatment plant visible. Moreover, a part of solid and liquid wastes from about 6 million people of the city dumps into the river continuously. Chittagong City Corporation can manage only 35% of its wastes from temporary and mobile dustbins. It is alarming to think that no waste-treatment plant has been established in the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) area yet.
The healthy city is unhealthy from all corners in this period of the 21st century.
Karnaphuli River, the lifeline of our economy, has been carrying huge load of solid and liquid wastes for a long time. For this reason it is degrading day by day. Ecosystem of the river is being destroyed regularly.
Once, the river would carry 66 species of fresh-water fish. There were 59 species of mixed-water fish in the river. But now only 20-25 species of fresh-water fish are available in the river. While 10 species are now supposed to have perished, some others are in danger of getting extinct as well.
The water quality of the river is going to cross the danger level. Physiochemical parameters of the river like pH, DO (dissolved oxygen), BOD (biochemical oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), EC (electric conductivity), TDS (total dissolved solid), TSS (total suspended solid), turbidity, Chloride Content, Alkalinity, Hardness etc are changing day by day and doing the harm. We are giving the river death penalty like the Buriganga of Dhaka.
We are the killers of river. We are the killers of our eco-system. Incomplete capital dredging of the river is another important bit for the river. It increased the sedimentation and siltation. Suspended solids are making the navigability of the river risky.
Hospital wastes, industrial effluents, ship-making and-breaking activities, agro-chemical of about 5 upazilas, oil spills from ships and boats, KPM (Karnaphuli Paper Mills) effluents, CUFL (Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd) and KAFCO (Karnaphuli Fertilizer Co) discharges, organic and inorganic harms, tannery and salt industries, plastic goods, wastes from fish processing, bilge and ballast water from ship movements, cement and refinery activities are contaminating the river water, round the year.
We should protect the economic wheel of the country for ourselves and for the future generation of the country. We should establish permanent waste-treatment plants.
Karnaphuli Paper Mills has been releasing hazardous effluents for about 60 years since its inception in 1953. But authorities seemed to turn a blind eye to it. Experts warn, if the pollution by KPM goes unaddressed, the consequences will be very costly. The water of the river more than 5 kilometres downstream of KPM has lost its properties. The factory discharges around 1000 tonnes of effluents per hour.
On the other hand, crude oil is spilled into the water during transportation and handling. Spilled oil from nearly 2500 ships, 200 oil tankers and 25,000 registered and numerous unregistered mechanized vessels, technical workshops, refineries etc cause pollution of the Karnaphuli. Burnt oil, ballast water, bilge water, residual fuel, cargo-hold residues, oil-grease, hydrocarbons, and heavy and toxic metals like Hg, Pb, Cr, Cd are regularly released into the Karnaphuli River in various ways. Oil residues and sludge are spilled and mixed with soil and water on the beach, poisoning marine organisms and other forms of life (birds, fish, plants etc).
The riverbank encroachments are alarming events in the recent days. Though the port authority and district administration are trying to vacate them recently, people wish a healthy Karnaphuli for today and for the days to come.
It is exclusively seen that the industrial discharges of 16 industrial areas around the Karnaphuli River are polluting the river. Avoiding the ETP (effluent-treatment plant) rules in the establishment of mills and factories on both the banks of the river is the cardinal cause for pollution.
We are facing a crucial choice between industrialization and environmental protection and, therefore, government policy should ensure balanced development and our approach to controls should be more preventive than corrective. So, we must need to operate our development activities keeping the pollution within the tolerable limit for the sustainable development of our environment.
We should consider the dos: a) the establishment of ETP in the industries, b) all dumping systems should be moderated, c) CCC, Chittagong WASA, CPA (Chittagong Port Authority) and CDA (Chittagong Development Authority) have to come forward to save the river, d) regular monitoring should be ensured, e) polluter fine should be enforced, f) the benefactor stakeholders have to be taken into consideration, g) the feeder channel of the river must be kept pollution-free, and h) Karnafully River Research Cell should be established.
After all, if we do not want to see our existence endangered, if we do not want to see the river like the Buriganga, all of us should come forward to protect the river immediately. Let's join our forces in a synergy to protect our existence.
Md Edris Ali is an Associate Professor, Govt Haji Mohsin College, Chittagong.