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Download PDF The government over the years has allowed industrialists to pollute the rivers, canals and wetlands in and around the city to such an extent that surface water turned pitch black in several spots.
Pollution has set in on the Buriganga, Shitalakhya and Balu rivers and made it almost impossible to treat the water. The Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), is supplying stinky water by purifying it with chlorine and ammonia sulfate.
The military-backed caretaker government had earlier directed industrialists to install ‘effluent treatment plants’ (ETP) at their respective industries by October 31 last year.
But most of the industrialists have defied the directive and the government also did not take action against any of the violators. Even the Department of Environment (DoE) does not know much about it.
“We even don’t know how many industries are active in and around the city as no survey has been conducted in recent years. We don’t have sufficient manpower or funds to monitor industries,” said a high official from DoE asking not to be named.
Besides industry-generated liquid and solid waste, most of the human excreta directly goes down the rivers through underground pipeline as nearly 70 percent houses are not connected to the excrete treatment plant in Pagla.
A DoE source said around 350 dyeing, tannery, chemicals, paper and food processing, and other industries are polluting the water severely.
Waste from these industries is connected with the sewerage system that directly goes into the rivers around the city. In fact, the rivers have become a dumping ground of all kinds of solid, liquid and chemical waste of bank-side population.
According to the Environment Conservation Rule, 1997, every industry should have in-house ETP. Otherwise, they would not get environmental clearance from the DoE which is mandatory to obtain power and gas connections.
The DoE has the authority to implement the law but shortage of manpower prevents it from taking action.
“We have only two inspectors to cover industries in 16 districts. They also don’t have vehicles for field-level inspection. How can you expect the inspectors will work properly?” said Neyamatullah Bhuiyan, director, DoE Dhaka Division.
According to statistics from DoE, the number of polluting textile mills is 365, tanneries 198, pharmaceutical units 149, engineering workshops 129, chemical and pesticide factories 118, jute mills 92, rubber and plastic units 63, food and sugar 38, paper and pulp 10, cement and fertiliser five each and distilleries four.
In 2001, a report from DoE said Hazaribagh tanneries, an export-oriented cluster of industries, produce about 20,000 cubic metres of toxic waste laden with chromium and at least 30 other toxins every day.
These toxic waste flows untreated into the Buriganga through the Rayer Bazar sluice gate.
The report also said the waters of Buriganga became so polluted that it is impossible for any aquatic life to survive there.
The government following the report took an initiative to relocate the tannery industries in Savar but the move has been stalled since then.
The waters of the Shitalakhya have meanwhile also become severely polluted. Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) and Aqua Consultant and Associates surveyed and tested the water of Shitalakhya in 2006 and recommended relocation of water intake point of Wasa from Sarulia point of Demra as the water over there is severely polluted.
But still the government allows the industries to pollute the water of Shitalakhya and Wasa is also supplying its water.
Talking with city dwellers from different areas including Basabo, Goran, Mugda, Narinda, Jatrabari, Maghbazar, Tejgaon, Hatirpul and Mirpur it was learned that they often find bad odour in the water.
“Sometimes the water smells like soil,” said a Mirpur resident, while another from Hatirpul said the supply water sometimes stinks like decomposed rats.
But the Wasa officials said the stink is a result of chlorine and ammonia sulphate used to treat the water.
“Though it’s stinky it’s safe as we tested the water in every hour before supplying,” said a top Wasa official.
The total population in Dhaka city grew from 0.1 million in 1906 to 12 million in 2008. Industries and houses have also mushroomed but the city authorities could not prepare and implement a long-term plan to keep the water bodies free from pollution.
March 21st, 2008 at 4:29 am
Iam working in a massive recycled water treatment project in Queensland ,Australia. To mitigate the severe draughts in Queensland in recent years the state government has taken up this project to treat and futher treat the used waters of south East Queensland in advanced water treatment plants by Bio osmosis process and pipe this water to different areas for use in power plants, industries and in due course as potable water. One of the plan is to free Brisbane river and Moreton bay from the dirty and polluted refuges and keep these clean.
We work as a part of alliance with Queensland government. We have already completed 82 KM pipeline construction and is currently engaged in testing and commissioning.This kind of recycled water scheme for Dhaka will not only free the rivers around Dhaka city from massive pollution but also will svae significant volume of water now required for irrigation, power generation and industrial use. The saved water can be supplied to people to meet present deficit. C Government may send a professional group to Australia to see for themselves the impact of the project. If necessary the author may send useful references.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
i’m doing a research project on how textile industries are polluting env in bd. where would i get enough useful info? any clue?