Rivers in Mymensingh division devastated by pollution and encroachment

The river network was the main artery of the economy, culture, and communication system of the Mymensingh region. Numerous tributaries, sub-tributaries, canals, and floodplains had developed in this region centering on the Brahmaputra River, which originates from the Himalayas. However, over the past three decades, unplanned industrialisation, uncontrolled waste disposal, occupation of river basins, and prolonged dredging have brought this vast water system to the brink of destruction.

On 27 October 2024, the Mymensingh divisional administration prepared a list of rivers through the district administrations of the four districts, following the directives of the High Court. According to the list sent to the Chairman of the National River Conservation Commission, there are a total of 179 rivers in the Mymensingh division. Of these, 94 are in Netrokona, 15 in Jamalpur, 11 in Sherpur, and 59 in Mymensingh district itself.

According to sources from the Water Development Board (WDB) and local administration officials, most of these 179 rivers are now on the verge of disappearing from the map. For eight months of the year, there is no effective water flow in these rivers. During the dry season, the rivers dry up and turn into sandy desert-like areas where locals cultivate crops. The most alarming issue, however, is that there is no specific government list of these endangered or nearly dead rivers with the administration or the WDB.

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), based on their field research, has identified nine rivers in the Mymensingh division as ''most endangered.'' These rivers are the Brahmaputra, Someshwari, Mohadeo, Sutia, Sutikhal, Khiru, Banar, Ayman, and Magra. Ayman river was once mentioned in BELA's list as a ''lost river,'' although recently the WDB has dredged parts of it. BELA's divisional workshop made 21 urgent recommendations for saving the rivers, the main ones being—delineating boundaries according to CS maps, removing all dams at the river mouths, and demolishing structures obstructing river flows. However, in reality, most of these recommendations have not been implemented.

Bhaluka and Trishal upazilas are referred to as the centres of industrialisation in Mymensingh. Despite the rapid development of textiles, dyeing, garments, and ceramics industries enriching the region's economy, they have become a curse for the local rivers.

The Lauti canal flows through the heart of Habirbari union in Bhaluka Upazila and joins the historical Khiru River in Mallikbari area. A visit to the confluence of Lauti Canal and Khiru River reveals that due to the relentless discharge of waste from factories, the water of the Lauti canal has turned pitch black.

When this toxic water merges into the Khiru River, the entire river's water loses its natural characteristics. A strong, pungent chemical smell pervades the air around the river. The odor is so intense that it is impossible for ordinary people to stand on the river or canal banks for more than five minutes. Harmful gas bubbles occasionally rise to the surface due to the chemical reactions of the waste. According to local residents, two decades ago, the Lauti canal and Khiru River were sources of clear water and the primary foundations of rural life.

The Banar River flowing through Trishal upazila has not escaped this pollution either. Standing beside the Banar Bridge in Sainboard area of Trishal, it can be seen that while the Khiru River is affected by black water, the Banar River carries ''milky white'' water. Locals report that this is not naturally white water; liquid waste mixed with chemicals from various ceramic factories upstream is dumped into the river day and night.

The colour of the water in the Banar and Khiru rivers changes based on the factory production cycle, sometimes turning blue, red, or even deep purple. This toxic water eventually mixes into the Shitalakshya River. Consequently, Mymensingh's regional pollution now has a severely negative impact on the river system around Dhaka.

Farmers along the banks of Lauti Canal and Khiru River now have no alternative sources for irrigation. Due to the high cost of extracting groundwater, they are compelled to use this chemically polluted black and coloured water from the river and canal for irrigating their rice and other crop fields.

Mustafa Kamal, a 65-year-old farmer from Habirbari village, has cultivated Aman and Boro rice on 18 katha of land. He said that he is forced to use a shallow engine pump to draw dark, waste-contaminated water from the Lauti Canal to irrigate his land. He says, "When this water is used, the roots of the paddy plants rot, and the quality of the rice deteriorates."

Nusrat Jaman, the agricultural officer of Bhaluka Upazila, says that in the agriculturally rich unions of Bharadoba, Habirbari, and Mallikbari in Bhaluka Upazila, new industries are constantly emerging. In Bharadoba union alone, about 350 acres of rice land have become completely unsuitable for cultivation.

According to this agricultural officer, the chemical-laden liquid waste from various textile and dyeing mills is directly flooding agricultural land. Due to these chemicals, heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and chromium levels are increasing in the soil. Consequently, root rot disease appears immediately after rice planting. The soil's organic properties and microorganisms are being permanently destroyed.

Nusrat Jaman adds that the soil in Bhaluka was highly suitable for the cultivation of native and foreign fruits such as bananas, papayas, grapes, rambutans, dates, dragon fruits, mangoes, lemons, malta, mustard, and sugar cane. However, if the water bodies and soil continue to be polluted like this, this emerging fruit cultivation revolution will be destroyed at its inception. Therefore, an integrated waste management system and regular canal dredging are urgently required.

The rivers and canals of the Mymensingh division were living proof of the expression ''fish and rice Bengalis.'' Hundreds of species of fish, including shol, gojar, boal, pabda, tangra, and puti, were harvested from these water bodies.

Senior Fisheries Officer of Bhaluka Upazila, Md Saidur Rahman, provided a scientific overview of the current quality status of the river water. He states that the three main indicators of water required for the survival of fish or any aquatic creatures are dissolved oxygen, pH, and ammonia levels.

Due to direct discharge of industrial waste into the rivers, these water indicators are in grim conditions. Waste from factories has caused the water's biological and chemical oxygen demand to skyrocket, resulting in dissolved oxygen levels dropping close to zero. Conversely, the levels of harmful ammonia and pH in the water are far beyond normal tolerable limits due to the waste. No fish, aquatic insects, or even aquatic plants can survive in this chemical-laden and oxygen-deprived environment. Khiru and Sutia are now biologically dead water streams.

According to government data, 2,001 fishermen from Bhaluka Upazila were formally registered under a special project in 2012. These fishermen made a living by fishing in the Khiru, Banar, and Sutia rivers for generations.

Due to river pollution, the lives of these two thousand fishermen families have been completely disrupted over the past decade. Fish are scarcely found in the river now. Elderly resident Samlal Ravi Das (75) from Dhamsur village, while reminiscing standing next to the model mosque in Bhaluka Bazaar, gets emotional. "We used to quench our thirst with our hands from the Khiru River even during the scorching heat of the Chaitra month. The river water was so clear that the sand at the bottom was visible. We used to do all our household work and bathing in this water. Now even looking at this water is intolerable, and it's impossible to walk along the riverbank due to the stench. The river died before our eyes," he laments.

Fisheries Officer Saidur Rahman says a significant portion of registered fishermen have been forced to abandon their ancestral occupation now that the rivers are fishless. Many are now pulling rickshaws or vans, while others have taken up day labour jobs in the city. Some are working as labourers in local fish farms for low wages.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam, Health and Family Planning Officer of Bhaluka Upazila, reports that a large portion of the patients visiting the outpatient department of the upazila health complex daily are dermatology patients. Rural people, especially those involved in agriculture, are compelled to enter the polluted water. As a result, they develop intense itching, eczema, allergies, and chronic wounds or sores on their bodies.

Hundreds of farmers like Abdul Halim (60) are enduring this dermatological torment daily. They work in their fields with itchy wounds on their feet and hands.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam further reports that besides skin diseases, there is a higher prevalence of stomach ailments, gastric issues, and dysentery among the people of this region. Due to the polluted water, there needs to be a comprehensive scientific investigation into whether harmful chemicals are seeping into the water from nearby shallow tube wells. Prolonged exposure to such chemicals significantly increases the risk of liver and kidney failure in humans.

Toward the end of 2024, the Mymensingh Divisional Administration prepared a major work plan to free six important rivers from occupation and pollution entirely in the four districts of the division. These rivers are the Brahmaputra, Khiru, Sutia, Magra, Old Brahmaputra, and Maharshi.

According to documents received from the Divisional Commissioner's office, the total estimated cost of this project was set at Tk 13.86 billion.

Nearly a year and a half has passed since this massive work plan and budget proposal, but there has been no tangible reflection of it on the ground. Not a single illegal occupation has been evicted from any point of Khiru or Sutia, nor has any visible infrastructure been created to prevent pollution.

According to local environmentalists, such large budgets largely remain confined to bureaucratic procedures and the movement of files.

On 30 July 2019, the National River Conservation Commission published a comprehensive list of 3,385 illegal river occupants from the four districts of the Mymensingh division on their website. At that time, the district administrations prepared this list after field-level investigations.

An analysis of the list shows that in Mymensingh district alone, 2,160 individuals have illegally occupied rivers and canals, which is the highest in the entire division. Additionally, there are 595 occupiers in Jamalpur, 512 in Netrokona, and 118 in Sherpur. The list of occupiers includes not only local influential individuals or land grabbers but also various government institutions, autonomous bodies, and political party offices.

Standing in the Patgudam Bridge area of Mymensingh city over the Brahmaputra River, the extent of this encroachment is vividly apparent. Solid houses, shops, and commercial establishments have sprung up, filling both sides of the river. The vast river has dwindled into a narrow channel here, while a large sandbar has emerged over the rest of the riverbed, which is now illegally occupied and cultivated. The situation is equally dire for the Kanchamatia River in Ishwarganj. The Ishwarganj Municipality itself dumps tonnes of waste into the riverbed daily, while influential figures construct illegal structures all around.

When contacted about this lengthy list of encroachers and stalled eviction operations, Mymensingh’s Additional Divisional Commissioner (Revenue), John Kennedy Jambil, said, "District administrations work according to their action plans in evicting illegal occupiers. However, I am new to this position, so at this moment, I am unaware of any specific progress of previous or current eviction initiatives.”

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) is implementing a significant project titled "Development of Navigability of the Old Brahmaputra River" with an expenditure of Tk 27.63 billion. Under this project, 227 kilometers of the river will be dredged across Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, and Kishoreganj districts.

This project, which began in June 2019, was supposed to conclude by June 2024. However, due to the inability to complete the work within the stipulated timeframe, the project duration has been extended for the first time until June 2027.

The main aim of this project was to restore the navigability of the Old Brahmaputra River so that medium-sized passenger and cargo boats could navigate throughout the year, ensuring a river width of at least 90 meters and water depth of 8 to 10 feet even in the dry season. Another aim was to ensure water supply for agriculture.

Currently, the authorities claim that about 46 per cent of the project is complete. However, in reality, the people of Mymensingh are not experiencing any benefits. The river's bed still presents a landscape of arid sandbars and a severe water crisis.

Executive Engineer of BIWTA, Mohsin Mia, explains the primary reason for this failure. He says, “No matter how much we dredge the lower regions, water will not flow into the Brahmaputra unless its source remains open. The primary junction or source of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna is the Dewanganj area of Gaibandha and Jamalpur. This source area is completely blocked from silt deposition over approximately 40 kilometers. Without dredging the source, water from upstream cannot flow downstream.”

Mohsin Mia further states that seeing the critical situation, the government has now transferred the work of dredging 70 kilometers of the river from the source to the Bangladesh Army. The army started dredging work in the source area last September.

According to the divisional office of the Department of Environment, there are 99 industrial establishments in Mymensingh district where effluent treatment plants (ETP) can be installed. Of these, 95 establishments have ETPs, while 4 do not.

Local people allege that these ETPs remain operational only on paper. Factory owners do not operate the ETPs during the day to save on electricity bills and reduce costs. At night, especially during rainy days or holidays, they release toxic chemical waste directly into the river line without operating the ETPs.

In response to this allegation, Sheikh Md Nazmul Huda, Divisional Director of the Department of Environment, says, "We are installing IP cameras in the factories to constantly monitor whether the ETPs are functioning properly. However, sometimes the cameras shut down due to power outages or technical faults. Some owners might not operate the ETPs properly."

When questioned about not taking strict actions against polluters, he remarks, "Every institution is a polluter, yet not every institution is a polluter. We take immediate action if we see someone polluting during our random visits. Notices are issued. If the response is unsatisfactory, fines and punitive measures are taken. We only renew permits if the lab test reports fall within specified standards during renewal."

When asked about the colorful and toxic water in the Banar River in Trishal, Sheikh Md Nazmul Huda comments, "The assumption that coloured water is necessarily polluted water is not correct. Before 2023, there was no scientific standard or permission limit set for coloured water in Bangladesh. There were no regulations on how much coloured water a dyeing factory could discharge into a river. In the new 2023 regulation, this standard has been set."

He further notes that establishments with general chemical or biological ETPs up to 2023 cannot suddenly spend millions of taka to incorporate technology for colour removal. This involves costs and time, so they'd need a ''reasonable time''. However, he admits that three years have passed since the regulation, within which they should have adhered to the standard.

Head of the Department of Irrigation and Water Management at Bangladesh Agricultural University, Professor Dr. Khalid Mahmud, conducted research on the flow pattern of the Brahmaputra and the changes in groundwater depth in Mymensingh. The research results found a tendency for groundwater layers to retreat deeper in Mymensingh as the average river flow reduced between 1981 and 2017

According to Khalid Mahmud, the river water, floodplain, agriculture, and human life in Mymensingh are deeply intertwined with the Brahmaputra River. The Brahmaputra, along with its tributaries, old channels, canals, beels, and floodplains, creates a critical hydrological system. Although the research did not directly measure the amount of natural recharge, significant statistical relations were observed between reduced average river flow and deeper groundwater forms.

However, Professor Khalid Mahmud cautions against claiming this relationship as a singular cause. Factors like rainfall, local recharge, irrigation pumping, urbanisation, land-use changes, and floodplain occupation also affect groundwater conditions. Integrated management based on informed planning, covering river flows, recharge zones, wetlands, irrigation pumping, and dry-season water use, is needed for sustainable groundwater and surface water management. It is crucial to adopt management of river basins, preserve recharge zones and wetlands, regulate pumping, and increase surface water usage during the dry season.

Distinguished researcher at Bangladesh Agricultural University’s Department of Irrigation and Water Management, Professor Deen Islam conducted a two-year intensive study on the quality of groundwater and surface water in the Bhaluka area.

Publishing his initial findings, he states that the unplanned housing and rapid industrialisation in Bhaluka are now beginning to affect the groundwater layer due to pollution in surface water bodies. The quality of groundwater has yet to reach a fully dangerous level.

However, the ongoing spread of surface pollution threatens to render the groundwater undrinkable within a few years. The only solution is to ensure that industrial-use water is 100 per cent pollution-free before it is released into the environment.