River routes face severe navigability crisis
Says Poba study
At least ten major river routes have disappeared while eight other routes are about to be closed across the country due to a navigability crisis looming up over last two decades, says a report of Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba).
Although all rivers across the country have been facing a severe navigability crisis, only 30 per cent of the total dredging activities are done on all routes while 70 per cent are done on ferry routes, says the report.
Poba Secretary Syed Monwar Hossain revealed this at a seminar, styled 'Endangered riverine routes: What needs to be done', jointly organised by the Poba and the Jono Udyog, a local NGO, at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity yesterday.
Currently, 4,000 to 5,000 kilometres of river routes are navigable in the rainy season. The figures come down to 2,000 to 2,500 kilometres in the dry season, according to the report.
Because of the continuous navigability crisis, people are becoming increasingly dependent on roads and railways.
Eight per cent of all passengers travel through the river routes, while 4 per cent do so through railway and 88 per cent through roads, the report points out.
Addressing the seminar as chief guest, Workers' Party of Bangladesh President Rashed Khan Menon said Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) had played a vital role in destroying the rivers.
"It made structures on the rivers in unplanned ways, thus hindering the natural flow of the rivers," he said.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chairman Dr Md Shamsuddoha Khondakar and Poba Chairman Abu Naser Khan also spoke on the occasion.
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