The continued pollution and grabbing of many relatively smaller rivers in the country go on mostly unnoticed. To the woes of their users, they remain out of the national-level focus. The Surma and Kushiyara in the greater Sylhet region are two of them. That the proverbially vibrant rivers of Surma and Kushiyara will fall into bad times was beyond imagination. But this is what has emerged as a grim reality. The natural flow of the Surma now remains obstructed at many points of its course. Its gentle meandering along the Sylhet city has lately been tampered with by a section of unscrupulous people. They are powerful, wield enormous power and are least bothered by their acts. In the past the banks of the Surma, especially that on the greater periphery of the city, were free of land-grabbers. The spectacle has deteriorated alarmingly. The stretch of the river banks adjacent to the city these days remains filled with municipal waste and myriad types of garbage, narrowing the flow's width. Along with the pollution of the river the revolting stench emitted by dumped garbage continues filling the air. Thus the Surma has earned the bad name of a polluted river.
The Surma and the Kushiyara originate from the river Barak flowing through the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam. Thanks to their origin in a hilly terrain, the two rivers of Bangladesh have flowed with their clean, pollution-free water for ages. The combined flow of the two later forms the mighty river Meghna. All these three rivers, thus, long remained synonymous with water purity and friendliness to fishes and aquatic life. But the process of robbing the Surma of its centuries-old beauty began with the construction of riverside residential buildings abutting the water. This emboldened people to dump waste materials on a long stretch of the bank.
Pollution of the Surma and the Kushiyara along their course across a wide valley appears implausible. It means the rivers get polluted as they enter Bangladesh. This fact applies to the other small rivers which are sourced in India and enter Bangladesh at the border. The Karnafuli in greater Chittagong has for centuries been viewed as a vigorous and sprightly river. Such rivers are not normally affected by man-induced pollution. But thanks to human recklessness, the Karnafuli has had to share its burden of pollution and, later, encroachment. The river flows from its source in India's north-eastern state of Mizoram, which has a common border with Bangladesh. The distance is not too long to collect polluting agents along the way. But in the latter half of the last century, the river became a victim of scores of human tampering. Encroachment and toxic pollution caused by effluent from the riverside industries comprise a major portion of it.
Coming to the pollution-choked state of small rivers, the Buriganga occupies the foremost position. It is closely followed by the Shitalakkhya, Dhaleshwari, Turag, Titas, Bhairab and a number of other rivers and tributaries. The Buriganga has long been declared a lost case. A similar ill-fate awaits the Shitalakkhya and Dhaleshwari. But the river-loving people are reluctant to include the Surma or Kobadak in the list.