Editor's Pick

Editorial

Cleaning up of rivers

Dumping and cleaning can't go together
8 February 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
One wonders whether the agencies mean business when they talk about cleaning the four major rivers around the capital of the waste. If that were the case one wonders how, while the cleaning-up is being conducted by the BIWTA on one hand, does the DCC authorities allow its garbage disposal trucks to off load refuse alongside the very rivers that are being cleaned, causing thousand of tons of rubbish to be dumped back into the same rivers. It appears to us that the river-cleaning project has been initiated without much planning, otherwise the first priority should have been to make arrangements for dumping the sludge from the rivers, and also finding alternative places for waste dumping which was being done in the rivers so long. It is also a classic case of lack of coordination between various agencies of government. And this makes complete nonsense of the river cleaning effort which started off with a lot of fanfare, and which involves a sum of Taka 6 crore. What we find as utterly unacceptable is the very casual attitude of the DCC authorities to stop the dumping. The relevant DCC official, according to a report in this paper, is aware of the matter, and has been so for a long time, and despite his assurances to put a stop to this, has been either unwilling, or unable, to do so. Where or what is the difficulty, we wonder! Let us not be oblivious of the fact that there is heavy stake in cleaning up the river. The four rivers in question are really the lifeline of the metropolis and surrounding areas. And all but one are dead biologically, according to a report of the department of environment. Apart from the fact that the rivers have become highly toxic, posing a hazard to the people who depend on these for sustenance, the water of these rivers has become deoxygenated which means that no marine life can sustain in these rivers. We feel that the time is now to evolve a holistic river management system that will obviate disjointed and unplanned work. The rivers can no longer be the receptacle for the city's waste and there should be a waste management plan for the Capital. The government should also consider recycling the waste to use in agriculture and alternative energy source. We understand that several NGOs have expressed their eagerness in this venture, but we have not seen any progress in the matter.

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