Promises to protect our rivers remain unkept

It is a great shame for us that, while observing another International Day of Action for Rivers, we have so little meaningful action to show for as far as the conservation of our rivers is concerned. A photo showing the pitch black water of the Shitalakkhya River and its distributary, the Balu, published in this newspaper on March 14, 2022 to mark the occasion, bears witness to how calls for preventing the unscrupulous dumping of untreated effluent from upstream industrial plants into the river have fallen on deaf ears.

Unfortunately, this apathy by the authorities seems constant in regards to most of the rivers in Bangladesh, despite an array of High Court orders directed at them to devise a strategy to protect our rivers. For example, according to a report in this daily, nearly 100 acres along the two banks of the Buriganga River remain filled up even after the installation of boundary pillars. Although sporadic drives by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) have managed to remove some of the structures constructed on the encroached land, influential people continue to occupy significant portions of the riverbed. Additionally, there are around 90 shipyards along the Buriganga, all of which were set up filling the river mainly between 2015 and 2020.

Since 2009, the High Court has repeatedly directed the authorities to demarcate the original territory of the Buriganga—as well as the Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya—and restore them to their original state, and protect them against encroachment and pollution. And in a 2016 verdict, the court termed river-grabbing a criminal offence. Why is it that according to the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC), there are more than 50,000 river grabbers in the country? The only explanation is that the authorities have not taken any significant deterrent action against encroachers—particularly against those who are powerful—to set a strong enough precedent. And thus we return full circle to the crux of the matter. Despite repeated calls by the High Court, environmentalists and people in general, the authorities concerned have failed for decades to take necessary action to protect our rivers. Time and again, we have seen different state bodies shift blame from one another for such failures, even though all of them are at least partially responsible. Therefore, we reiterate our call to the government to come up with a concrete plan of action to protect our rivers—including a realistic timeline of action—and hold the authorities concerned responsible for their failure to follow through.