The government's recent move to embark on a massive dredging project for 10 rivers in the country's northeastern haor areas is a pragmatic step. It could not have been better timed. Detractors, however, may view the initiative as belated. The much needed dredging of the rivers done earlier could have cushioned the impact of the devastating flash floods that have played havoc with the vast haor region. Against the backdrop of the ravages left by the over-flooded rivers and the ordeals of the people stuck in the haor region, the step is replete with overarching importance. According to a recent FE report, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has taken up a Tk 47.61million work to carry out the required feasibility study for the river dredging project. The project will be put to implementation upon examining the study's findings.
With the disastrous flash floods in the haor region in March-April this year in view, the rationale behind the dredging project should prove strong. The fact that the 10 large and small rivers flowing across seven haor-filled districts need to be dredged should not have been out of focus. Flash floods triggered by excessive rainfall and the overflowing upstream rivers in India are regular phenomena in the country's haor areas. Moreover, haors are used to seasonal floods. It is common knowledge that the vast haor regions and their rivers downstream have long been accumulating sediments from sands and debris flowing from the rivers upstream. The changed, and often erratic, behaviour of monsoon also added to the dread of severe flooding in the whole region. The stark realities apparently were not taken into consideration. Given these developments related mainly to environmental degradation, calling the authorities ill prepared for a calamity is an understatement. In the case of the recent deluge of the haors, sloppily executed water management infrastructure has also been singled out.
Implementing dredging projects for increasing the depth and navigability of haor areas' rivers is a routine job. However, it remained stuck in foot-dragging. The calamitous level of this year's flooding of 373 haors may have prompted the authorities to swing into action. The people living in the haor region will surely take heart from it. Considering the whole scene of the flood-hit haor region, a lot of things seem to have gone amiss. The most glaring of them is the absence of a holistic view of the calamity. Apart from the flood prevention measures that warrant utmost urgency, renewed focus ought to be directed to long-term imperatives. Stopping activities detrimental to a sound environment is one of them. Initiatives also need to be in place to minimise the impact of alleged pollutants flowing from upstream rivers. The disadvantage of being in a region downstream can be overcome with the help of state-of-the-art technological and other practical devices.
The feasibility study for the dredging work is just the prelude to a multi-pronged mega project. Past experience in the execution of such projects is not encouraging. In many cases, they witnessed ceremonial inauguration. But in the following phases dozens of hurdles creep in leading to cost overruns, irregularities etc. Projects going awry midway are common in this country. The dredging of ten haor rivers ought to be kept free of hiccups. At stake is a campaign against a national scourge.