Why the event of boat rally in the river Buriganga was called 'Buriganga River Carnival' is rather puzzling. When the purpose of the rally apparently was to create public awareness about protection of the capital's lifeline from pollution and encroachment, neither the association of the original Catholic festival nor the later-day riotous revelry has any relevance to this occasion. Also, it does not go with the local culture. The title of the event notwithstanding, what counts most is whether the rally of the colourfully decorated boats has served its purpose. As chief guest at the brief inaugural function, former food minister and currently an MP, Kamrul Islam in his speech candidly admitted that a section of people of the ruling party is always responsible for encroaching upon or polluting rivers. His observation that land grabbers use party affiliation to do so also strikes the right chord.
There is hardly any doubt that the Buriganga is biologically and hydrologically dead, so are the other three rivers girdling the city. Now the troubling question is, are people in power serious enough to bring about a real change in the dying rivers? Admittedly, it is a joint mission of the administration and the public to save the rivers from a slow but sure death. But the pace has to be set by the government first. There are clear directives from the High Court but no government agency has so far stood accused for non-implementation of those directives. When the HC directives are not complied with by the Department of Environment and Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), is not it too much to expect responsible disposal of garbage or solid waste by common people? If the HC directives were complied with, factories, industries, 30 washing plants and leather factories could not have discharged their effluent into the Buriganga.
As part of rapid climate change, phenomenal environmental upheavals are occurring all across the world. Bangladesh has been feeling the heat although the calamities have so far been limited to floods in Sylhet and a drought-like situation in the monsoon and rains now in the autumn. The capital city's health will largely depend on the sustainability of the four rivers around it, and the country's on the rivers that crisscross the deltaic plane. Unless the smaller picture fits into the bigger picture, the nation may have to pay a heavy price for its follies and greed. The rivers, including the Buriganga must be saved and saved as urgently as possible.
Spurts of activities such as demolition drives against illegally constructed buildings and other structures on the banks of the Buriganga and the other three rivers continue for some time and then there is an eerie silence. Why cannot the task of recovery and demarcation be accomplished at a go? If this can be done, the next step would be to seal off the effluent-discharging factories unless they install their own effluent treatment plants (ETPs). It will be followed by measures prompting the water vessels to follow scientifically safe dumping of residue of burnt-out diesel and lubricant. Only then can common people be expected to respond to any appeal for not throwing the slightest rubbish into the river. People then will collectively dare dream of a river with translucent water in the Buriganga like the famed ones in the West.
