Rivers and canals flowing through Savar, a suburb of the capital Dhaka, have been losing their navigability over the years and are in death throeso. The rivers Dhaleshwari, Bangshi, and Turag and many canals meandering through the area may disappear soon if the authorities concerned do not act in time.
Savar municipality continued to pollute the Dhaleshwari, Bangshi, and Turag rivers and canals under its jurisdiction for years by dumping wastes. Locals, lawyers, environmentalists, rights activists, and politicians repeatedly called for the protection of rivers, canals and other waterbodies in Savar of Dhaka.
Although rivers surrounding Savar -- Dhaleshwari, Bangshi and Turag -- have contributed to the economy, they are getting narrower fast due to illegal occupation and unchecked pollution. Therefore, all the rivers, canals and waterbodies in Savar are in an existential crisis due to illegal encroachment and dumping of garbage and industrial wastes. The authorities concerned must take immediate steps to protect the waterbodies.
The authorities concerned had conducted drives on various occasions to demolish illegal structures from the rivers, but these eviction drives could not bring any fruitful results in restoring the original nature of the rivers.
Some
influential people are behind such
miserable conditions of these rivers.
Some influential people are behind such miserable conditions of these rivers. They are either directly involved in or back illegal activities like lifting sand and soil from there, erecting low-height bridges over the rivers and filling the rivers, according to media reports. Such activities have hindered the water flow of the rivers, leaving the rivers to dry up.
Dwelling houses, entertainment parks, children's parks, offices and factories have even been built by encroaching on the rivers. All the rivers, canals and waterbodies crisscrossing Savar have almost been dried up even before dry season sets in.
The authorities concerned must restore the original channels of the rivers by setting up boundary pillars as per the CS record, cancellation of the leases of water bodies, eviction of illegal structures on the banks of rivers, and setting up effluent treatment plants to check water pollution.
Filling up the riverbank for construction of any public establishment by excavating sands from the same river is completely unlawful. The illegal occupation of river land was stopped for a while after different newspapers published several news in this regard.
However, we have noticed that the government’s various initiatives to oust the grabbers were either foiled or barred by the local influentials on several occasions. Thus the people have to face the consequences.
