Prevent the Surma going down the Buriganga way

That we as a people have scant regard for the natural resources that we are blessed with is well-proven, and well-proven too is the fact that the authorities respond to a situation only when it is too late. Rivers are our lifeline, but most of them have reached a near-moribund state because of the way we have used, misused and overused them. Dhaka's lifeline, the Buriganga, is all but dead and there is a last-minute scamper to revive it. And now a report in this paper shows that the lifeline of Sylhet, the Surma, is facing the fate of the Buriganga. Not only has it become polluted, it seems the residents of Sylhet town have no other place to dispose their garbage than the banks of the Surma. 

The DoE representative in Sylhet takes issue with the common view that the river is polluted beyond human use. The environment department would have us believe that this is not the case, citing his reading of the oxygen content of the water of the river. However, most often the users provide the best reading about the usability of a particular object—and in this case, we believe the local people, who have been using the water of that river for various purposes for generations, should be in a better position to certify to its usability or otherwise.

We suggest the DoE and the local administration wake up to the situation immediately. At least dumping of garbage can be stopped immediately, and a comprehensive plan on one hand, and immediate corrective measures on the other, be taken up forthwith.