Choking a river to death
Dam, bridges, encroachment restricting Mayur river’s natural flow
The 22-kilometre-long Mayur river, which used to flow through the western side of Khulna city while being a source of fresh water for locals, is now on its deathbed.
Not just a major lifeline for the city, the river was also home to a diverse range of aquatic species, including "shushuk" (South Asian river dolphin), which is on the IUCN red list of endangered mammals.
The once majestic river flows through Alutola, Nirala, Gallamari, Boyra, Dayana, Arongghata, and Beel-Dakatia areas. Earlier, it had a confluence with Rupsa river, but no more due to the construction of sluice gates to control the tide.
Over the years, these sluice gates, alongside illegal encroachment of the river's land and rampant pollution, reduced the river's flow significantly and caused it to shrink while wiping out its fish and other species.
The construction materials of the broken bridge are kept on the site for the time being and will be removed soon. We have placed a pipe there, through which water is flowing.
Recently, construction of an embankment and two bridges on the river has added to its woes, choking its natural flow further and practically leaving it to die.
Visiting the Gallamari area of the city recently, this correspondent saw the 30-foot-wide dam constructed near the construction site of one of the two bridges, with just a three-foot-wide pipe on the western side of the embankment to drain out water.
The two new steel-arch bridges, 68.70-metre long and 3.70-metre wide, each about five-metre height above water level, are being constructed to replace two old bridges that were demolished earlier.
The Roads and Highways Department is implementing the Tk 68 crore project following a design inspired by Dhaka's Hatirjheel. The construction work was inaugurated on October 12 last year, and piling work is ongoing at present.
A construction firm, National Development Engineers Limited, has been tasked with the project, scheduled to be completed by April 2025.
According to environmentalists, these construction works will only ensure the river's impending demise while destroying its marine ecosystem. Due to pollution, the river no longer has adequate dissolved oxygen to sustain aquatic organisms.
Meanwhile, in an ironical twist, the Khulna City Corporation is excavating another part of the river at a cost of Tk 7.59 crore for the second time in a bid to restore its flow. It was previously dredged in 2014 at a cost of Tk 5.78 crore across 5,900 metres for the drainage of rain water to prevent waterlogging.
"Much of the river has been already lost to illegal encroachment. The embankment should not be constructed on the river, while the construction of bridges should be done only after reviving its natural flow," said Mahfuzur Rahman Mukul, Khulna divisional coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association.
Choking the river with bridges and dam on one part of the river while dredging it on another part is nothing but an instance of double standard of government authorities.
"Choking the river with bridges and dam on one part of the river while dredging it on another part is nothing but an instance of double standard of government authorities," he said.
"The contractor firm is not removing the soil from the bridge construction site, causing it to accumulate in the river bed and obstruct its flow. The Water Development Board should be taking steps to stop this menace, but their officials did not even visit the site for once," Mukul added.
"Years back, the river had plenty of fish. I have seen dolphins in it too. Now you won't even find a single fish in its water," said Nimai Chandra Roy, a retired teacher and resident of Batiaghata upazila.
"We used to come to Khulna on boats through this river. It got killed right in front of our eyes," he lamented.
Atiar Rahman, a businessman in Gallamari Bazar, said the river's flow has reduced drastically after constructing the dam.
RHD executive engineer in Khulna Md Anisuzzaman Masud seemed indifferent to the situation when contacted.
"The construction materials of the broken bridge are kept on the site for the time being and will be removed soon. Also, we have placed a pipe there, through which water is flowing," he said.