Buriganga cleansing starts by lifting waste from its bed

Dhaka, Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority on Wednesday began its drive to remove all the garbage, including polythene and coconut shells, from the bed of the Buriganga, the lifeline of the capital, in order to rejuvenate the moribund river, restore its navigability and save the environment.

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, along with water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and state minister for forest and environment Hasan Mahmud, inaugurated the drive after a formal ceremony at the Sadarghat Terminal.

The Buriganga cleansing project, being implemented by the BIWTA at a cost of Tk 24.9 crore, will end by June 2011. The forest and environment ministry is providing the cost from its Climate Change Trust Fund.

In the first phase of the project, the BIWTA has primarily engaged four private organisations for three months to clean up a 3-kilometre stretch southward from Babu Bazaar Bridge along with a 1.5-kilometre stretch of Turag River at Tongi. Five grab excavators will be engaged in cleaning garbage from the riverbed while labourers will also be employed to withdraw the garbage from riverside manually, said sources in the BIWTA.

The authority will later purchase two long-boom excavators and one speedboat for the project.

Around 115 labourers and three grab excavators were struggling to pull out the sludge from the riverbed on the first day.

The BIWTA officials said that a ten to twelve feet layer of discarded polythene bags, plastic products, coconut shells and heavy sludge from kitchen markets has created millions of tonnes of both bio-degradable and non-debgradable waste which now cover the riverbed.

The collected garbage will primarily be dumped at a special place near Amin Bazaar, said BIWTA officials.

At the inaugural ceremony Shahjahan Khan sought the cooperation of the people to make this drive a success. ‘The government alone will not be able to complete the task. It needs a concerted effort by all,’ he said.

He asked the environmental forums to remain vigilant so that Buriganga clean-up drive does not stop midway.

Praising the movement of the different environmental organisations to save the ecology, the shipping minister said, ‘The government is continuing the movement you have started. All should be alert so that the task of saving the Buriganga does not stop midway.’

Water resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen told reporters, ‘We have initiated this project to improve and maintain the navigability of these rivers as the government incurs a loss of Tk 30,000 to Tk 50,000 crore every year just for their lack of navigability.’

Hasan Mahmud said the government is going to amend the environmental laws and enact the Environment Court Act to enable common people to file cases whenever they see any anti-environmental activities.

Parliamentarian Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin, BIWTA’s chairman M Abdul Maleque Miah, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon’s vice-president Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, shipping secretary (in-charge) Md Abdul Mannan Howlader and Save the Environment Movement’s chairman were present at the inaugural ceremony, along with others.

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed said they hoped the Buriganga would look as it did 50 years back after the removal of sludge, wastes and polythene bags.

He said the BITWA should appoint magistrates to protect the river from polluters.

Source: New age