Editorial
Dredging for life
Parliamentary committee suggestion needs careful consideration
The expression 'better late than ever' becomes a euphemism when we are talking about saving our dying rivers. Our rivers are our land's lifeblood and over the last few decades they have been fighting a losing battle against all kinds of man-made degradation. The primary enemy has been the indiscriminate dumping of toxic waste from industries and households, virtually killing the aquatic flaura and fauna, leaving the river to be nothing more than a dead stretch of dirty water.
Illegal filling of the river by unscrupulous land grabbers, often with the tacit go ahead of authorities, has grossly shrunk the rivers, canals and other water bodies.
The suggestion of a parliamentary committee to dredge rivers all year long to keep them navigable is a case of too little too late. Already around 30,000 km of waterways have been reduced to a pathetic 3,500 km.
Now the committee is saying immediate steps have to be taken to stop the dumping and funneling of wastes into the river Buriganga, the lifeline of the capital. All this should have been suggested and implemented years ago when the media (The Daily Star especially) kept shouting and screaming about the need to save our rivers.
In any case the solution of dredging the river may sound the best one so far particularly if it is to improve navigability. At the same time the process of dredging needs to be examined carefully with expert advice to make sure we are not faced with unexpected side effects. In other countries dredging has been criticised for disturbing the habitat for certain species and cracking the underground water supply. We must be certain that these concerns are kept in mind when designing the dredging process if it is at all implemented.
Whatever it decides, the government really has no time to lose.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments