The Khowai River at Rampur in Habiganj Sadar has been under serious threat from the dual attack of encroachment and pollution. It is not simply a lack of awareness that is causing the mindless dumping of waste near Khowai Bridge. Environmentalists blame the district authorities for not taking proper steps to handle garbage and waste management. The issue of encroachment of the river is the same we see all over the country. In the absence of an enforcement of existing environmental laws, a coterie of powerful interest groups has steadily been filling up portions of the river banks and the water body has been narrowing down to dangerous levels.

Municipality authorities need to move fast to handle waste which includes human waste that is making its way into the river. This in turn is causing a major pollution problem which will end up affecting marine life and eventually, the drinking water supply. We do not want to see rivers like the Khowai end up like so many other rivers because authorities are either too inefficient or not powerful enough to enforce guidelines that are there to check pollution and stop encroachment. 

People often fail to see the bigger picture about how rivers give population centres life. A dying river always ends up affecting communities living around it. Fish dying, lack of irrigation, the spread of diseases and a lack of safe drinking water are some of the harmful effects. All we can hope is that authorities will take steps to stop the degradation of rivers like Khowai before it is too late.