No river polluters in Bangladesh will get away untouched: NRCC chair

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The National River Conservation Commission is working to compel the agencies concerned to play their designated roles in protecting the country’s rivers, said the commission’s chair Manjur A Chowdhury in an interview with New Age on August 1.
‘The commission is working to oblige the agencies concerned to play their role in protecting the rivers as it is not the commission’s responsibility to enforce the laws to safeguard rivers,’ he said.
Mentioning that the prime minister has a good intention about rivers, Manjur said that if any officials concerned failed to do their duties the commission would recommend to the government to take actions against them.
‘We have detected the sources of river pollution. It’s time to take action. We must be successful — there is no option for failure,’ he affirmed.
According to Manjur, former president of the Zoological Society of Bangladesh, many rivers across the country, especially those around Dhaka, are now ecologically dead and the rest are under threat due to failures of the agencies responsible for the protection of rivers because they did not play their roles over the years.
River-centric biodiversity has been greatly damaged and fishes, weeds and other aquatic species cannot survive in rivers due to the acute pollution, he observed, adding that even the surface sweet water cannot be used for irrigation for various types of pollution, including the presence of heavy metals in the water.
An entomologist by training, Manjur said, ‘The main problem with rivers now is their pollution as the government has taken actions against encroachment.’
‘The commission is determined to put an end to river pollution before the next birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,’ he said, adding that the commission has asked for the appointment of some officials to the commission to achieve its target.
The National River Conservation Commission was established in 2013 with the objective to protect the country’s rivers from encroachment and pollution in accordance with a High Court order issued on a writ petition.
Manjur said that the commission was currently struggling to work effectively for the lack of manpower and budgetary allocation.
The entity has sought from the government 15 officials to invigorate its activities, he said. ‘Presently, it has 48 staff, including 16 temporary employees.’
The NRCC chief said, ‘Industrial effluents are one of the main sources of river pollution. Factories are indiscriminately releasing untreated effluents into rivers though an official of the Department of Environment is assigned to monitor the situation while the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, fisheries as well as local government officials, elected public representatives and others have roles in preventing river pollution.’
He identified the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority as the top polluter of the rivers surrounding Dhaka. ‘For failures of the agency, 1.5 crore litres of human urine and 50 lakh kg of faeces are discharged into the rivers daily.’
The Dhaka WASA, a government organisation, is the lone agency responsible for water supply and sewerage management in the capital.
According to Manjur, there are 18 agencies that are related to river use and protection in different ways.
‘The commission will ensure the accountability of these agencies,’ said the NRCC chair.
The government in last February appointed Manjur, chair of non-government think-tank Centre for Governance Studies, as chair of the National River Conservation Commission for three years.