Siddhirganj DND canal
The badly polluted water of the DND Siddhirganj canal is the woe of about a hundred thousand residents of the locality. Effluents from the industries set up in Siddhirganj, particularly, the dyeing factories in the Pagla area along the canal's banks have polluted its water so much so that peasants had to abandon farming and fishermen their fishing and switch over to other vocations.
It is hardly believable that population of the area once thrived on the water of the canal. Residents recall the water was potable beforehand. Within about one decade and a half the scenario has turned upside down. The residents cannot only not use its water for agricultural, washing and other purposes, the entire environment of the area has also turned poisonous. The air has become so polluted that any kind of metallic object including corrugated tin shed houses, metallic utensils, ornaments, electronic goods such as computer parts, etc are corroded away.
Now the question that naturally arises is how are the residents of the locality surviving with the air they have to breathe in? It is hardly surprising that they are suffering from various diseases including allergies and skin diseases.
So far, the government, especially, its Department of Environment (DoE) has done precious little to prevail upon the industries constantly polluting the canal water to take effluent treatment measures. The pro-environment bodies and the civil societies, too, have a role to play.
Given the fact that the groundwater level of Dhaka has dipped alarmingly, it is time that we turned our attention to surface water of rivers, canals, lakes and ponds. With an eye to this, we cannot afford to allow the DND Siddhir-ganj canal and its water to go waste in such a manner. We hope the government would urgently look into the matter.
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