Dhaka Reeking Of Toxic Stink ..... ..... Re: Mandia Bedi - Ugly indian hindoo woman with poisonous tongue -

On Mar 28, 11:25 pm, "VognoDuut1083" <zilm...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mandira madness


Dhaka Reeking Of Toxic Stink ..... .....


http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/03/29/d7032901011.htm


Daily Star, Dhaka, bangladesh
Thursday, March 29, 2007


Life reeking of toxic stink


Casting a grim look at the black and stinky liquid waste flow in the
narrow Devdholai river, Afazuddin Mia, a resident of Nasirabad village
by the river in Trimohini area on the outskirts of the capital, said
the water is so toxic that even a snake would not dare to cross it.
"You would not find anything alive in the river water except
mosquitoes using it as an ideal breeding place. Sometimes we have to
stay inside mosquito net even in daytime," Afazuddin said.


The septuagenarian was narrating the miserable condition of the river
and people of the villages along its bank sitting at his small shop
beside the river.


Another villager, Yusuf Ali, said, "We used to drink the river water
and do other household work with it just two decades ago. But now we
have to buy drinking water from Wasa (Dhaka Water and Sewerage
Authority.)"


Some others present there echoed what they said.


And their views reflected the sufferings of around 2.5 lakh people of
12 villages situated along the dying Devdholai river and equally
polluted Narai canal that flows into it at Trimohini ghat. The area is
hardly six kilometres from the capital's zero point.


Domestic, industrial and various other wastes from different parts of
the burgeoning city having a population of around 12 million flow into
Narai canal at Rampura bridge point. The polluted Devdholai joins the
Balu river, which flows into the Shitalakhya, contaminating their
waters too. And no one bothers.


People of the villages along the banks of the Devdholai and the canal
hesitate even to touch their pitch-black water emitting extremely foul
odour. They have to depend on the Wasa water for drinking and other
domestic uses.


Dhaka Wasa had set up two pumps at nearby Nandipara and Meradia in the
face of repeated demonstrations by the local people demanding drinking
water. People of the 12 affected villages including Nasirabad,
Daserkanda, Barogram and Kayetpara clamoured for Wasa-supplied water
as their tubewells dried up with the Devdholai gradually dying.


Wastes from Malibagh, Basabo, Goran, Kamalapur, Motijheel and other
areas flow into Narai canal. Besides, untreated wastes from Tejgaon
industrial area, Gulshan, Banani, Rampura and Karwan Bazar find their
way into the canal and Balu river.


"Wasa has installed deep tubewells for people of Madertek and
Nandipara areas. It is pumping out ground water, leaving our tubewells
dry," said Abul Hashem at Trimohini ghat.


Residents of the 12 villages first protested at the growing pollution
of the river and canal about five years ago. The city mayor attended a
protest rally in the area in 2003 and assured the locals of necessary
steps. But nothing has been done so far.


Besides the Shitalakhya and Balu rivers that encompass the city's
eastern and north-eastern parts, the Buriganga and the Turag rivers on
its south and south-west have also virtually turned into flows of
household and industrial wastes. Their waters are now highly toxic and
stinky.


The Buriganga once was the main source of drinking water for Dhaka
residents, and in the upstream not that from the capital, its water is
still crystal clear. Many people living in this city still recall with
pride that considering the strategic location of this river the
Mughals had made Dhaka the capital of the then Bengal in 1610.


According to the Department of Environment (DoE), more than 21, 000
tonnes of tannery waste flows into the Buriganga alone daily. Illegal
structures and encroachments along the banks have narrowed the
Buriganga and Turag, adding to the dirt while various watercraft
release burnt oil into their waters.


A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) report on 'Study on
Waste Management in Dhaka City', there are 6,919 factories around the
city, many of those situated just by the rivers around it. These
include textile, leather, wood product, chemical, paper, metal and
other factories. Many of these discharge their liquid waste directly
into the rivers. Moreover, hospitals and private clinics also dump
their waste into the rivers.


The level of pollution of their water is so high that aquatic species
cannot survive in it. And the situation is getting worse day by day.


A recent World Bank (WB) report contained results of a study by the
Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) which says dissolved oxygen (DO)
level in these rivers fall far below the accepted level during the
seven dry months.


The DoE in a report in January said there was no oxygen in the
Buriganga water at many points.


It conducted tests at nine points of the river and found level of
oxygen 1.8 percent at five points and zero at the other points. The
level of oxygen should be at least more than six percent for the
survival of aquatic lives.


At the three points of the Balu river, the level of oxygen was 3.8 to
4.1 percent.


Moreover, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), that means acidity, was much
higher than the accepted level, the report mentioned.


When contacted, a high official from the DoE said they could not take
necessary measures in this regard due to shortage of staffs. Only
three of the 207 staffs are entitled to inspect polluter industries.


Back in November 2003, the government had formed a task force to
recommend steps to save the rivers around the capital as part of a Tk
4,000 crore project. The task force comprising officials from four
ministries, two directorates and civil society representatives
submitted a report. But the matter seems to have ended there.


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"Sonar" Bangladesh's Capital Wallows In Toxic Dump .....


http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/03/16/d5031601033.htm


Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Wednesday, March 16, 2005


Buriganga turns into a toxic dump
By Morshed Ali Khan and Rafiq Hasan


Severe pollution has reduced the river Buriganga into a 'dumping
drain' of toxic refuse, threatening millions of people living on its
banks with serious health hazards and a loss of their livelihoods.


That the river is dying is clearly evident from its stench. The highly
toxic waters release a 'gas' that starts irritating the nostrils and
throat as soon as humans breathe it. Its foul odors can be smelled
from as far away as half a kilometre.


"Sometimes we are unable to sit in our office due to the unbearable
stench from the river water," said an official at the Sadarghat river
port. As the day rolls into the afternoon the heat of the sun turns
the stench even fouler, making the 'pitch black' Buriganga water
intolerable, he said.


Soon after the floodwater receded and the river wore its lean period
look, the pollution instantly increased due to a lack of dispersion.
Millions of cubic metres of toxic waste from the Hazaribagh tanneries
and thousands of other industries, topped with a huge volume of
untreated sewage from the city, now remain almost stagnant within the
river water. The situation is set to continue until a new flow of
water rushes in from the upstream, beginning in perhaps another two
months.


In the meantime, people living along the river are the worst victims
of the pollution, which they say is worse than anything they've seen
in previous years. Thousands of water transport workers, working on
the passenger and cargo vessels in Sadraghat, are forced to bring
water from the river Meghna and Dhaleswari for washing. Unable to take
a bath or wash clothes for days, many of them have even begun to
suffer from various diseases.


"We can not use the water of the Buriganga for bathing, washing or
cooking," said Mohammad Uzzal, an employee of a launch. "For cooking,
we use the water collected from faraway places in our water tank,"
said Mohammad Jalil, a launch cook.


Farid, a ticket collector of MV Mashiron Khan-1, said that even for
washing the floor of the vessels they have to bring water from
relatively less polluted rivers such as the Meghna near Chandpur.


"Sometimes, when we require more water while anchored at the terminal,
we are forced to buy tap water at a high price," said a launch
operator. "If we wash the vessel with this water passengers complain
of a bad smell," he said.


At least two private companies supply 'pure water' to the launches in
the Sadarghat, charging about Tk 150 for filling a 400-liter capacity
water reservoir.


The scenario is even bleaker in the villages along the river, in the
upstream of the Buriganga. Hundreds of thousands of families living in
Zinzira, Kholamora, Kamrangirchar, Jhaochar, Modhyerchar, Wasspur,
Basila and Looterchar face a severe water crisis for at least six
months a year. Dependent on the river for generations, this population
has been cut off from using the river water for over ten years.
Although almost every household has a tube-well, ninety percent of
them become dry during the lean period. Housewives are even forced to
travel miles for washing and collecting water.


"There are people, particularly migrant day labourers, who are badly
suffering as they are unable to wash their clothes or take a bath for
days," said Lakhan, a former fisherman from Basila.
Pollution in the river has also rendered totally barren hundreds of
acres agricultural land and also destroyed the river water's
ecosystem. Once famous for its variety of local fishes, the Buriganga
now has virtually no aquatic life.


There are at least 200 sources from which polluted water pours into
the river Buriganga, chief among them sewage waste from the tanneries
at Rayer Bazar. The government now has a plan to relocate the
Hazaribagh tanneries to Savar with effluent treatment plants.


A top BIWTA official said that all the feeder rivers in the upstream,
such as the Jamuna and the Brahmaputra, remain cut off during most of
the year due to siltation in confluent areas.


"The river Buriganga becomes almost stagnant as the water flow from
upstream is almost totally cut off in the lean period," he said.


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http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/03/04/d703042504133.htm


Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Sunday, March 4, 2007


Buriganga, Our Dying Lifeline


With over 5,000 tonnes of untreated and highly toxic liquid and solid
wastes contaminating its water everyday, the river Buriganga has
turned into a stagnant sewerage. The toxic wastes have wiped out all
aquatic lives from the river. The repeated toxic onslaught on the life
line of Dhaka has contaminated the ground water and the agricultural
land around it. Due to lack of flow in the water during the lean
period the wastes are accumulating at an alarming rate. The water is
thick and resembles discarded engine oil, emitting an unbearable
stench. During eight months of the year the Buriganga is cut off from
its source, the Jamuna river in the upstream near Manikganj. A project
to open up the Bangshi river to revive the four rivers around the city
is now gathering dust with the Water Development Board.


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