Tk 945cr project work starts next month to keep them flowing round-the-year
Water in the capital’s river system — the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya rivers — will flow unceasingly round the year in three years, said Humayun Kabir, chief engineer (central) of Water Development Board.
The inspiring news came with the launching of Tk 945 crore Buriganga River Restoration Project, in which about 62 kilometres of New Dhaleshwari, Pungli, Bangshi and Turag rivers in the upstream would be dredged to restore the ceaseless flow with the Jamuna.
A stretch of 162.5 kilometres between Dhaka and New Dhaleshwari offtake, almost half a kilometre downstream of the Bangabandhu Bridge, would be restored to maintain flow in the river system of the capital.
“We have floated tender for the first-phase dredging of 62 kilometres and hope to start the work by December 11 this year and complete it in three years. The government has already given Tk 80 crore for the project,” Humayun Kabir, also the project director, told The Daily Star.
The idea is to keep the branching point of the New Dhaleshwari flowing round the year and divert at least 245 cubic metres of water per second into the city’s river system. A sluice gate would be built at the Jamuna confluence to contain floods, which will ensure water flow during the dry season automatically flushing pollutants.
The engineers and experts involved in the project, however, said restoring water flow alone cannot remove pollutants from the rivers. Installation of effluent treatment plants (ETP) should be made mandatory for all industries and organisations, for instance Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa).
Humayun Kabir said they would start the dredging from Dhaka end where 23 kilometres stretch of an area unfortunately overlaps with the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority’s dredging plan in the Buriganga and Turag. “We will soon find a solution,” he added.
The dredging, both mechanical and at places manual, would reward 6.5 million cubic metres of sand, technically called dredging spoil. This sand is a highly demanded commodity in the construction sector with a market price of Tk 70.62 per cubic metre. The extracted sand in the project would generate around Tk 45.90 crore.
“We are not taking the trouble of managing the spoil rather decided to handover the responsibility to the contractor. While bidding for the work a contractor would be required to deduct the estimated amount earned from the sand,” said Humayun Kabir.
During the dry season and about seven months a year the water flow in the entire river system of the capital remains cut off. The Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya become stagnant during the time when millions of gallons of highly toxic industrial and human waste keeps accumulating in the water turning the environment extremely unhygienic and ruining the biodiversity.
During monsoon rising water in the Jamuna floods the silted riverbeds at the confluence and flow into the river system around the city flushing polluted waters downstream.
The Buriganga River Restoration Project would also resume the age-old waterway after over two decades. Goods from the southern part of the country can be transported faster through these channels. Moreover, several regions along the route would benefit in terms of irrigation and transportation of goods by waterway.
The government is now headhunting for a candidate with thorough knowledge on river system for the proper implementation of the project as the incumbent project director is soon going on retirement.
“The project is going to change socio-economic scenario of the entire region and enhance the transport system reducing pollution,” said Naimul Ashraf, a hydraulic engineer and river-system expert.
“Thousands of trucks transport goods from the southern regions of the country to the capital every day. This pressure on the highways could be drastically reduced by the opening of the channels at the Jamuna confluence,” he added.
The institute of Water Modelling conducted the feasibility study on the project in April 2003.
Experts believe that diverting water will not affect the environment as over 2,000 cubic metres of water flows through the Jamuna every second usually during the dry season.
