Bhairab in peril

Rampant river-grabbing by influential persons mixed with reluctance on the authorities' side to take steps against them, squeezed into a corner, the Bhairab river stands as a major waterbody being completely given to grabbing and pollution.

When this correspondent visited both sides of the river recently, he saw at least 300 business establishments -- including factories, warehouses, and some high-rise structures -- at Jailkhana ghat, Rupsha ghat, Delta ghat, Khalishpur Burma Eastern ghat, Digholia, Shiromoni and Phultala ghat areas.

As an added woe, nearly 500 shops from the neighbouring Baro Bazar, and some factories and mills throw their waste straight into the river.

Abdul Mazed Mollah, a resident of the city's Kalibari area, told The Daily Star, "The river has become like an 'orphan', with no authority doing anything to free it from the indiscriminate pollution and grabbing."

"I've never seen any integrated work to save the river," he added. "Without a free-flowing Bhairab, Khulna city would be inundated by waterlogging," he warned.

There are many government and private institutions that depend on the Bhairab for their shipments. Khulna Shipyard, BNS Titumir (Bangladesh Navy), BIWTA ghat, Forest ghat, Khulna Newsprint Mills, Khulna Hardboard Mills, nine state-owned jute mills, four power plants, three state-owned oil depots, and over 200 private jute mills were built on the banks of Bhairab.

"If the river lost its navigability, these establishments will be affected and might even be forced to shift to other places," said Paritosh Karmokar, a Baro Bazar-based business owner.

Every day, over 300 cargo vessels carry goods and oil from Noyapara of Jashore to different parts of the country along the river. On their way, they pollute the river by dumping waste and discharging chemicals, said locals and green activists.

In addition, at least 20 large drains of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) directly discharge waste into the river, and so do the jute mills.

Contacted, KCC Chief Conservancy Officer Md Abdul Aziz said, "We have attached nets to the openings of the drains, so waste does not go into the river. Furthermore, we have plans to process the drain water to remove pollutants before letting it enter the river."

According to Water Development Board (WDB), an integrated flood protection project was started in Khulna city in 1993-94,  with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project included a 3.5 km alternative embankment along Jailkhana ghat, Roosevelt Jetty ghat, Sadar Hospital ghat, and Ansar Flour Mill. But due to the ceaseless grabbing of Bhairab, the entire embankment is left in a vulnerable state.

Mahfuzur Rahman Mukul, Khulna divisional coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, said, "WDB, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority [BIWTA], KCC, district administration, and police [Khulna Metropolitan Police and Khulna district police] need to work together to save the river from grabbers and polluters."

Contacted, Abdur Razzaque, deputy director of BIWTA Khulna, said, "Some influential people have built several establishments, including concrete structures, occupying both sides of the rivers from Labonchhara to BIWTA ghat."

"We've already identified 1,274 structures," he added. "We will soon start a drive to demolish them, with the assistance of the district administration."

"The district administration will file a case against these grabbers first, after which we will get down to work," he added.

Contacted, Saifur Rahman Khan, director of Khulna's Department of Environment (DoE), said, "DoE is firmly determined to take action against the polluters. We've already conducted many drives and investigated the allegations against them. We've sent our findings to the higher authorities for enforcement."