Action against river polluters
There are several ways our rivers are being gradually killed off. There have been illegal encroachments of many important rivers around the capital and this has gone on with impunity. Tanneries and other factories have been discharging millions of gallons of toxins and untreated wastes into these very rivers and the owners couldn't give two hoots about government strictures regarding shifting of the tanneries to Savar or setting up waste treatment plants.
Polluters, like encroachers, are ultimately killing the rivers, and these being the lifeline of the capital city, such an outcome may also spell disaster for it. According to a BIWTA survey there are as many as thirty six outlets disgorging filth into the rivers, but that doesn't take into account the many outlets that empty their wastes into smaller canals which eventually connect to the rivers. Ninety-nine percent of the 400 washing factories do not have ETPs (Effluent Treatment Plants), and of the handful of factories that do, very few use them fully.
We do not know what to make of the latest warning to the polluters of the four major rivers that serve Dhaka city and its surroundings. Such warnings have also been made to the river encroachers with no palpable effect. In this instance, the government has threatened to shut down factories that do not have functional ETPs but has not set a time frame for that.
We feel the government should move decisively in this regard by setting definite time frame for actions. We do not want to see another fiasco like the much vaunted river cleaning projected in which 17 crore taka went down the drain.
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