Buriganga River
polluting the river water. The picture was taken in the Mitford
Hospital area on Saturday.
Severe pollution has reduced the river Buriganga into a 'dumping drain' of toxic refuse, threatening millions of people living on its banks with serious health hazards and a loss of their livelihoods. That the river is dying is clearly evident from its stench. The highly toxic waters release a 'gas' that starts irritating the nostrils and throat as soon as humans breathe it. Its foul odors can be smelled from as far away as half a kilometre. "Sometimes we are unable to sit in our office due to the unbearable stench from the river water," said an official at the Sadarghat river port. As the day rolls into the afternoon the heat of the sun turns the stench even fouler, making the 'pitch black' Buriganga water intolerable, he said. Soon after the floodwater receded and the river wore its lean period look, the pollution instantly increased due to a lack of dispersion. Millions of cubic metres of toxic waste from the Hazaribagh tanneries and thousands of other industries, topped with a huge volume of untreated sewage from the city, now remain almost stagnant within the river water. The situation is set to continue until a new flow of water rushes in from the upstream, beginning in perhaps another two months. In the meantime, people living along the river are the worst victims of the pollution, which they say is worse than anything they've seen in previous years. Thousands of water transport workers, working on the passenger and cargo vessels in Sadraghat, are forced to bring water from the river Meghna and Dhaleswari for washing. Unable to take a bath or wash clothes for days, many of them have even begun to suffer from various diseases. "We can not use the water of the Buriganga for bathing, washing or cooking," said Mohammad Uzzal, an employee of a launch. "For cooking, we use the water collected from faraway places in our water tank," said Mohammad Jalil, a launch cook. Farid, a ticket collector of MV Mashiron Khan-1, said that even for washing the floor of the vessels they have to bring water from relatively less polluted rivers such as the Meghna near Chandpur.
"Sometimes, when we require more water while anchored at the terminal, we are forced to buy tap water at a high price," said a launch operator. "If we wash the vessel with this water passengers complain of a bad smell," he said. At least two private companies supply 'pure water' to the launches in the Sadarghat, charging about Tk 150 for filling a 400-liter capacity water reservoir.
he scenario is even bleaker in the villages along the river, in the upstream of the Buriganga. Hundreds of thousands of families living in Zinzira, Kholamora, Kamrangirchar, Jhaochar, Modhyerchar, Wasspur, Basila and Looterchar face a severe water crisis for at least six months a year. Dependent on the river for generations, this population has been cut off from using the river water for over ten years. Although almost every household has a tube-well, ninety percent of them become dry during the lean period. Housewives are even forced to travel miles for washing and collecting water. "There are people, particularly migrant day labourers, who are badly suffering as they are unable to wash their clothes or take a bath for days," said Lakhan, a former fisherman from Basila.
Pollution in the river has also rendered totally barren hundreds of acres agricultural land and also destroyed the river water's ecosystem. Once famous for its variety of local fishes, the Buriganga now has virtually no aquatic life. There are at least 200 sources from which polluted water pours into the river Buriganga, chief among them sewage waste from the tanneries at Rayer Bazar. The government now has a plan to relocate the Hazaribagh tanneries to Savar with effluent treatment plants. A top BIWTA official said that all the feeder rivers in the upstream, such as the Jamuna and the
Unabated encroachment that prevents the free flow of water, dumping of medicinal waste and waste of river passengers have compounded the problem, making the water unusable for humans and livestock.
"Unfortunately, all these bad things - encroachment, dumping of industrial waste and other abuses - occur in full knowledge of the authorities," said Professor Abdullah Abu Saeed, an eminent campaigner for "Save Buriganga, Save Lives".
Among the top polluters are dozens of tanneries on the banks of the Buriganga. The government has initiated a move to relocate the tanneries outside the capital, and also asked illegal encroachers to vacate the river.
A boy collects rubbish on the river Buriganga in Dhaka May 17, 2010. It was once the lifeline of the Bangladeshi capital. But the once mighty Buriganga river, which flows by Dhaka, is now one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh because of rampant dumping of industrial and human waste.
But environmental groups say they defy such orders by using their political links or by bribing people.
Besides wastes from Dhaka urban population the river receives untreated industrial wastes from urea fertiliser plants, textile mills and other industries. The principal polluting agent in the region is the Urea Fertiliser Factory of Ghorasal and the concentration of ammonia dissolved in water has increased over time causing fish-kills.
Balu River The river near Tongi (15 miles north of Dhaka) receives untreated effluents from industries such as textiles, lead batteries, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, paints, detergents, iron and steel, rubber etc.
The river is also slowly shrinking, making navigation increasingly difficult, since many areas along its banks have been filled in to support a host of new buildings, including brick kilns, shops, cinema halls, pucca houses and ghats. Many examples of such destructive building activities were clearly visible at several points during a visit to the river on Saturday. A mosque was built on the eastern side of the river at Eshapur, 75 per cent of it on the river. Its first floor was erected on a number of pillars directly on the river. Elsewhere, the river is being strangled in order to give birth to an entire new city Purbachal, which the Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha RAJUK is building on 6,000 acres of land covering Dhaka Narayanganj and Gazipur districts. Hundreds of barges can be seen carrying sand from the River Meghna and Munshiganj areas to fill in low lands. As a consequence of the gradual encroachment, the river, which originates from the Lakkhah and the old Brahmmaputra in Mymensingh and flows to Shitalakhya, has become so narrow that goods-carrying vessels often get stuck on the riverbed. During winter, it virtually shrinks to a small canal. Lakhs of people living on the banks of the 21-kilometer long river are also facing a serious water crisis since they can no longer use the river water for daily tasks, such as bathing and washing clothes. Even ten years ago, the river water was clean and usable for various household purposes. Fishermen netted big fish on the river all year round, the villager Mian said. But now hardly any fish can survive in the polluted water, he recalled. "We cannot even wash our legs in the river because it causes itching," said Mahbubul Alam of the same village. He said cultivation of vegetables on the land along the river is also being affected because of pollution in the water. Sources say the river is being poisoned because sewage water from Dhaka city flows into it via the Rampura Khal, spreading throughout the whole area through arteries and various canals. A high ranking engineer from Dhaka WASA admitted responsibility for polluting the river Balu and several hundred villages along it. But he added that unscrupulous home and industry owners on an area of about 35 square kilometers cause the pollution. They have illegally connected their sewerage lines with the storm sewerage, which discharges huge volumes of night soil and industrial wastes into the river through the Rampura sluice gate, he alleged. He said, however, that WASA plans to set up a sewage and waste treatment plant on the eastern fringe of the city, but that the plan has remained shelved for years due to funding constraints. "We have proposed to the World Bank and also appealed for funds but no investor is coming forward. The river pollution will not go until such treatment plants are in place," said the official, requesting anonymity. Making matters worse, the villagers have become totally dependent on local tube wells since the river water is highly contaminated. But these only supply a very little amount of water during the lean season. On average, 60 out of 100 tube wells in the area remain non-functional during this time, the villagers said. Poor villagers and day labourers who can not manage a tube well face severe hardship in obtaining water. But even those who have a tube well face difficulties, as the hand operated tube wells require a lot of pressure to obtain an adequate supply. Mohammad Quamrul Islam, a local member of parliament and state minister for expatriate welfare and overseas employment, told The Daily Star that he has taken initiatives several times to reduce the pollution level in the river Balu. A big waste treatment plant is necessary to stop pollution in the river but no such plant is being set up due to lack of investors for the project, he told Bhairab/Rupsa Rivers
The principal industries of Khulna (south-east of Bangladesh) are jute mills, oil mills, newsprint mills, cable, shipyards, tobacco, match factories, hardboard and others dispose molasses, starch, oil, sodium-sulphide, ethane, lissapol, sodaash, dye, sulphuric acid, salicylic acid, lime, ammonium sulphide, and chrome etc. Afew study at Bhairab River shows a very alarming water quality data (Nov.-April 1988-89) - conductivity 390-9500 Micro-mhos/cms, total solid 260-3500 mg/l, TDS 260-3200 mg/l. The pollution aspects of Bhairab and Rupsa Rivers is very critical - the Rupsa River does not receive a continuous flow of fresh water from the parent river, on the other hand, the Bhairab River, being subject to tides, has marked backwater effects which reduce the purification capacity of the river. The polluting industries of Chittagong (south-east of Bangladesh) such as 19 tanneries, 26 textile mills, 1 oil refinery, 1 TSP plant, 1 DDT plant, 2 chemical complexes, 5 fish processing units, 1 urea fertiliser factory, 1 asphalt bitumen plant, 1 steel mill, 1 paper mill (solid waste disposal hourly 1450 m³), 1 rayon mill complex, 2 cement factories, 2 pesticide manufacturing plants, 4 paint and dye manufacturing plants, several soap and detergent factories and a number of light industrial units directly discharge untreated toxic effluent into Karnaphuli river. From the survey of effluents from different industries , it has been found that the discharge is generally compose of organic and inorganic wastes. The organic waster are the effluents from the tanneries, fish processing units, degradable wood chips, pulps and untreated municipal and sewage (about 40,000 kg BOD daily) etc. The inorganic waster are chemicals used by the industries such as various acids, bleaching powder, lissapol, hydrogenperoxide, alkali, salts, lime, dyes, pigments, aluminium-sulphate and heavy metals etc. The DDT factory and fertiliser factory disposing of DDT, toxic chemicals and heavy metals to the Karnaphuli River and ultimately to the Bay of Bengal ( Table: 2 and 3). The tables show about 220 ppm of chromium, 0.3-2.9 of cadmium, 0.05-0.27 ppm of mercury, 0.5-21.8 ppm of lead entering river and sea water much higher than allowable limits. and extremely alarmingly to aquatic flora and fauna and through food chains to human beings. It may be mentioned that Bangladesh obtain table salt from solar drying of sea water and consequently increase pollution of sea water shall create a serious national health hazard situation. About 20,000 fishermen became jobless at Rangonia, Boalkhali and Anwara Upazila due to water pollution (Dept. of Environment, 1988). The estimate of crude oil spillage at Chittagong is about 6,000 metric tonnes per year, while about 240,000 gallons per year of bilge water is also dumped (Ministry of Environment, 1992). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons known to be carcinogenic enter the river water and also the Bay of Bengal. But no specific study or quantitative analysis of the run-off, discharge amount or residue level has so far been analysed.
"SEPTIC TANK"
Environmentalists say the Buriganga, or the "Old Ganges" once famous for a spectacular cruise, is worst affected.
The river flows by the capital Dhaka, a city of 12 million people, which largely depends on the Buriganga's water for drinking, fishing and carrying merchandise.
"The pollutants have eaten up all oxygen in the Buriganga and we call it biologically dead. It is like a septic tank," said Khawaja Minnatullah, a World Bank specialist on environment and water management.
"There is no fish or aquatic life in this river apart from zero oxygen survival kind of organisms."
Chemicals such as cadmium and chromium, and other elements such as mercury carried by the industrial waste are also creeping into the ground water, posing a serious threat to public health.
"If the pollution is not controlled, we will face a serious health crisis in a year or two or at best three years," said Minnatullah.
Bangladesh enacted a law in 1995 making it compulsory for all industrial units to use effluent treatment plants in a bid to save river water from pollution, but industry owners often flout the rule.
"Many of them have this plant. But they don't use it as it is expensive," said M.A. Matin, general-secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon or the Bangladesh Environment Movement.
"We want the rivers fully dredged, their illegal occupation ended and the laws strictly enforced to prevent abuse of waterways," said Nishat.
Environmentalists say they are hopeful.
Bangladesh gets loans for water, pollution projects
Bangladesh will receive a $149 million loan from the World Bank for a project to improve water supply and another loan for a project to fight air pollution.The total cost of the water supply project is estimated at $165.7 million and the government will cover the rest of the cost, the World Bank said in a statement on Monday.It will install storm water pumping stations and rehabilitate canals to drain out waste water and minimise urban flooding.The project will also carry out rehabilitation, repair and expansion of priority investments in Dhaka's sewerage network and treatment plant to improve the environment in urban areas, especially in the slums.The proposed project has been developed in coordination with five development partners -- the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Danish International Development Assistance, the government of Japan, and the government of the Republic of Korea.The World Bank's concessionary arm, International Development Association (IDA) will provide the loan with 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period.It will carry an annual service charge of three quarters of a percent, the statement said.The World Bank said separately on Monday it would also finance the bulk of a project to combat air pollution, which was a leading cause of mortality and morbidity."It is estimated that if the exposure to urban air pollution were reduced by 20 percent...it would result in saving 1,200 to 3,500 lives annually and avoiding 80 to 230 million cases of disease," the World Bank said.The Bangladesh government has recently initiated a "Clean Air and Sustainable Environment" project with an estimated cost of $75 million.The project will target key air polluting sectors, especially urban transport and brick making.About $65 million of the project's funding would come from the IDA, while the rest will be borne by the Bangladesh government, a World Bank official told Reuters.($1= 68.50 taka)
No comments:
Post a Comment