Empower NRCC

The media has for the last few decades highlighted the sorry state of our rivers, i.e. how powerful, vested quarters have taken advantage of the fact that the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) was never given any legal or institutional capacity. The NRCC lacks teeth to do anything against polluters or river grabbers. Environmentalists have been voicing their concerns about this issue for many years, but the sad reality is that authorities are powerless to act because the NRCC cannot take any action in its present form.

It is not like there aren't enough laws to protect rivers. But who is going to implement those on behalf of the government, if not the NRCC? And whilst policymakers choose to turn a blind eye to the issue, we have thousands of fisherfolk out of jobs on the Buriganga River which is essentially a dead river. We see polluters wreaking havoc on other rivers like Norai, Debdholai and Balu rivers.

The media has covered the dual menace of pollution and river encroachment for years and yet nothing substantial has happened. The Buriganga may recover somewhere down the line as the tannery industry has been relocated to Savar, but the problem has basically been shifted to another river—Dhaleshwari—and while fishermen may one day fish again on the Buriganga, we may see new media reports in the coming years when the Dhaleshwari too begins to die due to pollution. If we are to save our rivers which are considered the lifeline of urban centres like Dhaka, then the time to act is now.