Buriganga River loses fish, other amphibians

There are no fishes in Buriganga River due to the low oxygen level of the water. Although this information is quite old, the fresh count of contamination level makes environmentalists worried. They said dead catfishes are now surfacing on the water due to unabated pollution and lambasted the authorities concerned for sheer negligence. Recent visit at some points of the river unfolded that the pitch-black water of the river is evidential for the claim of the greens. 

Meantime, Prof Moh-ammad Mamun Chowd-hury of Dhaka University Fisheries Department observed that the current contamination and pollution level discard any aqua life in the river. "The water body, historically known a blessing for Dhaka, now has turned into a curse. As catfishes have an air-breathing organ, it is still found there," he opined. "As the tanneries have been at last shifted to Savar, we now can try releasing fish fries into Buriganga," the professor sounded desperate.       

Talking to fishermen of Buriganga, it was known that once people from nearby district used to come for fishing in the river. "The daily catch was handsome which now may sound absurd," aged fisherman Kali Kanti Das recalled. He named many local fish species and said they used to take bath and use the water for chores.

Another fisherman Jhantu Das, whose father and grandfather used to fish in the river, said more and more of their fellows are altering the profession. Currently he struggle for one kilogram of catfish from noon to evening.Basically fishermen like me with boats now prefer ferrying people across the river," gazing wide, he said. Sixty-year-old Haripada Das, one of the ferrymen, had been ferrying people for last 20 years.

He now fights with his physical capacity for roaring. Sometimes Das fishes in Buriganga during his leisure. The water remains intensely polluted ten months a year. During monsoon, the water level rises and there are few catches at that time. River activist Anwar Hossen believes what the river needs is the political and social commitment. "Buri-ganga is being encroached under political banner. There is no alternative of immediate and united effort to save the river."

-AA Correspondent