One-third of 62 rivers in Barishal no longer navigable

The state of rivers in Bangladesh has been a cause for concern for a while now, so much so that in 2019, the High Court declared rivers to be "legal persons", with the National River Conservation Commission being appointed as the legal guardian of all rivers across the country. However, the gargantuan task of protecting our rivers from destruction has proved difficult even in some of the most river-rich regions of Bangladesh, as was made clear in a recent survey from the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services. According to the survey, around one-third of 62 rivers in Barishal division has lost navigability, causing the suspension of vessel operations in around 460km (out of 1,475km) of 27 waterways.

In a country where not just the ecosystem, but travel, livelihoods and a myriad of economic activities are dependent on rivers, the filling up of rivers due to siltation and river erosion is something that should worry us immensely. According to experts, this will not only affect navigability but will lead to greater water logging, impact wetland ecosystems, and negatively affect irrigation and landing facilities. However, there is a simple solution—experts have recommended 4.2 million cubic metres of capital dredging and 170 million cubic metres of maintenance and conservation dredging in Barishal to deal with the issue.

We hope the authorities will listen to the experts and deal with the issue urgently in order to improve the navigability of Barishal's waterways, especially since so many of the area's residents are dependent on these waterways for travel and transportation. While launch owners have appealed for dredging once a year in order to continue their operations, the authorities must also address the concerns of environmentalists and civil society members and evict the illegal occupants around these waterways. However, in the long run, we must remember that our waterways and rivers are interconnected, and without dealing with the all-encompassing issues of river pollution and river-grabbing across the country, whatever localised steps we take to save our rivers may not be anywhere near enough. We hope the government will take concrete steps to implement the 2019 HC directive and will also arm the National River Conservation Commission with more executive authority to ensure the protection of these precious national resources.