Is it really surprising—after decades of rampant encroachment and pollution—that about a third of our rivers are on their deathbed? This is the estimate given by our state minister for shipping, who on Tuesday said that 308 rivers in Bangladesh, out of around a thousand, have lost their navigability. Dhaka division emerged as one of the worst sufferers in this case, with an astounding 85 of its rivers meeting this fate, while Khulna topped the list with 87. The number of rivers deemed to have normal flow or lost it over time may be debatable, but for the government to go on record with this admission is appreciable.

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A river indistinguishable from a canal is no river

The question is, what is the government going to do about it? Restoring the navigability of these rivers will take a monumental undertaking involving careful handling of various challenges such as pollution, encroachment, and sand lifting, as well as navigating various barriers, both legal and political. It will require a sustained administrative pushback against problems created by government departments themselves. As another report from Wednesday shows, the construction of an unplanned bridge by one such department is choking the Ichhamati River in Pabna. It is because of such incursions and constructions that the river has shrunk to a width of barely about 120 feet.

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Will rivers exist only in nostalgia?

And not just rivers, a vast number of canals and ponds in the country have also been ravaged. In Dhaka, for example, 95 canals have been lost or reduced to less than half of their original length over the past 80 years, as a recent study has shown. The list of waterbodies to be restored or recovered is long, and the government cannot pick and choose from them—it has to save all. That we haven't been able to take even baby steps in that regard, despite impassioned urgings by the PM, is alarming indeed. Therefore, we urge all respective government agencies and ministries to rise to the challenge, take drastic steps to address the deeply entrenched systemic issues, and save our rivers.