From The Daily Star
Seminar seeks integrated approach for river drive
The government must make the polluters pay for cleaning up the river Buriganga and undertake an integrated and scientific approach to this end, demanded leading environmental activists and experts at a seminar in the city yesterday.
Environmentalist group Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) organised the seminar titled ‘Buriganga Clean-up: Approaches and Realities’ at the Jatiya Press Club.
It is shocking to see the mindless grabbing and pollution of the rivers around Dhaka by the industrial units, said Shahjahan Khan, shipping minister, while speaking as the chief guest.
“Many Dhaka canals are without a trace today due to grabbing by local public representatives,” he said adding, “Kalyanpur canal has been grabbed in this manner by a former lawmaker.”
No finance minister has as yet paid heed to the demand for incorporating the ‘polluters pay principle’ in the national budget, said Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, Bapa president and a noted economist.
The polluters of the river Thames, famous for its history, were made to pay by a law in 1383, said Prof Md Mujibur Rahman of civil engineering department of Buet while making the keynote presentation.
He recommended stopping tannery and domestic wastes from releasing in the river, cleaning the riverbed in a planned and scientific manner to restore the water quality of the four rivers around Dhaka.
Citing official records, Bapa Joint Secretary Mihir Biswas said a total of 6000 tonnes of liquid waste is dumped into the Buriganga every day, half of which comes from Hazaribagh tanneries.
Buriganga and other rivers around the capital are polluted every day with thousands of tonnes of solid and liquid wastes coming from domestic and industrial sources, he added.
Toxic heavy metal like chromium, used in Hazaribagh tannery units and released directly in the Buriganga, may cause genetic disorder, birth defects and cancer if it gets in the food cycle, the seminar was told.
The unplanned and half-hearted drive to clean the Burignaga bed created an additional problem, said Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan, editor, Defence and Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) requires three permanent magistrates to effectively guard the 112 kilometres length of four rivers including Balu, Turag and Shitalakkhya around Dhaka, said Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, Bapa vice-president.
Sanjida Khanom MP and Taksim A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Wasa, among others, addressed the seminar chaired by Prof Muzaffer Ahmad.
Source
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