Heavy silting of rivers

Photo: Quddus Alam / Driknews

Bangladesh is a land of rivers. Poor river management, silting, and absence of dredging have reduced the country's riverbed from 5000 kms to 3600 kms. According to a recent report of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), all the rivers of our country have lost the free flows they had in the past due to heavy silt deposition.
The High Court issued directives on the government to save the rivers around the capital from encroachment and pollution last year. The BIWTA is trying to develop its infrastructure by purchasing new equipment, hiring experts, increasing manpower, etc.
So, sharing of water of the common rivers should be taken more seriously by the government. Still we are not getting proper share of water from India. Because of non-cooperation of India and our lack of awareness and poor diplomacy, most of our rivers are already dead. We need to improve our bilateral relations with India and also create pressure on India to get the proper share of water.