Speakers at a seminar has called for strengthening the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) to save the country's rivers as well as the livelihoods of riverine people.
They said rivers are the lifeblood of the Bangladesh economy and social life. Its cultural life is also deeply related to rivers. It is extremely unfortunately that its three main rivers, Ganges-Padma, Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Surma-Meghna are dying.
"Some 480 rivers are found with lengths ranging from 10 to 99 kilometres. There are 376 rivers ranging from one to nine kilometres in length. The longest river in the country is Padma, with a length of 341 kilometres. There are 41 rivers less than 1.0 kilometre in length. However, there is no information available about the lengths of 55 rivers in the country," former hydrologist of the National River Conservation Commission Akhtaruzzaman Talukdar said.
The hydrologist was presented a keynote paper titled 'Rivers of Bangladesh: Definition and Numbers' organised by the commission at the CIRDAP auditorium on Sunday. Former secretary Syed Margub Morshed was present as the chief at the programme with the commission Chairman Manjur A Chowdhury in the chair.
He said there are a total of 1,008 rivers in the country and more than 20 of them flow through each district of the country while a maximum of 97 rivers flow through Sunamganj district.
Meanwhile, as per a survey of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), one hundred and seventeen rivers are either dead or have lost navigability. Such rivers/canals include Brahamaputra, Padma, Mahananda, Gorai, Meghna, Titas, Gomati, Kushiara, Dhaleswari, Bhairab, Sitalksha, Turag.
The latest study of BWDB reveals that there are three hundred and ten rivers in Bangladesh. Out of these fifty-seven are border rivers, the condition of one hundred and seventy five is miserable, and sixty five are almost dead. Eighty percent of the rivers lack proper depth.
As per a report of BWDB, India is controlling the water of 57 rivers along with the Farakka barrage.
Because of inadequate facilities for dredging, these rivers have become canals. Additionally, India has withdrawn water of several rivers including Surma, Kushiara and Mahananda. Sluice gates have been constructed on the rivers Senoa, Jamuna, Panga, Pan, Hatoori and Sui (situated near Panchagarh).
Referring to the number of rivers, Akhtaruzzaman Talukdar said "Padma and Ichamati, both with lengths exceeding 300 kilometres. Ichhamati is the name of 11 rivers. These names are familiar in various places. Five rivers flow for more than 280 kilometres. There are 9 rivers with lengths between 200 and 279 kilometres. Some 42 rivers measure between 100 and 199 kilometres. Five rivers are less than 100 kilometres."
"Some 480 rivers are found with lengths ranging from 10 to 99 kilometres. There are 376 rivers ranging from one to nine kilometres in length. The longest river in the country is Padma, with a length of 341 kilometres. There are 41 rivers less than 1.0 kilometre in length. There is no information available about the lengths of 55 rivers in the country," he said.
However, BWDB study said already 75 percent of our river routes have lost navigability due to silting.
Akhtaruzzaman in his keynote paper said: "The country may lack oil, gas, gold or other assets, but it has valuable rivers that are never counted as assets," he pointed out.
In his speech, Dr Manjur Ahmed expressed his criticism over acts of illegal sand extraction from river Meghna in Chandpur and alleged indolent of influencial quarters of the governmnet.
Speaking at the function, Syed Margub Morshed thanked the country's judiciary as it directed the formation of the commission earlier.
However, he called for strengthening the National River Conservation Commission to save the country's rivers as well as the livelihoods of riverine people.
However, they urged the government to take measures to save rivers. They suggested starting immediate work on increasing our capacity for regular dredging, stopping dumping of effluents in the rivers, cleaning the effluents already dumped and continuous cleaning of river beds.
