Can our rivers be saved?

Till 2019, Bangladesh experienced both positive and negative developments in the case of rivers.

Good developments include the High Court’s judgement declaring rivers as a “legal entity”; new energy that the government displayed in freeing rivers from encroachment; combating pollution.

However, despite such progress, the negative sides continue to outweigh the positive developments as of 2019.

The negative aspects include improper implementation of policies and directives; river activists not following the HC directives properly; converting the old channel of the Buriganga River into a lake that amounts to killing the river, violating the HC’s order to treat rivers as a living entity; trans-boundary river issues, etc.

Therefore, Bangladesh needs to gear up to protect its river system.