The Buriganga River that runs through Dhaka, Bangladesh, has almost no life in it due to chemical pollution. Regardless, the thousands of people who live around the river’s edge rely on this dead water for every one of their basic necessities.
The Government has the opportunity to turn the river into a life source, but so far the pollution is only getting worse.
Every day the Buriganga is filled with more than 60,000 cubic meters of chemical waste, home waste, medical waste, sewage, dead animals, plastics, and oil, giving the water an indefinable color and glue-like consistency.
“We want the rivers fully dredged, and the laws strictly enforced to prevent abuse of the waterways. Not too long ago, the Singapore River was just like the Buriganga, but they cleaned it up and turned it into a great resource instead.”
- Ainun Nishat, Professor and Environmentalist from BRAC University in Dhaka
- Ainun Nishat, Professor and Environmentalist from BRAC University in Dhaka
Since the founding of Dhaka in the 7th century, the river has been an important life source for its inhabitants. Today, an estimated 16 million people live along the coastline of Buriganga, and they all still depend on its water for drinking, fishing, and transporting merchandise.
The Government has promised to relocate the heaviest polluters to outside the capital, but enviromental groups have said that certain companies defy these orders by using their political ties or by bribing influencial people to get what they want.
