Bangladesh was a land of rivers. Water transportation was the main mode of communication here. Rivers have been the main source of fish. But rivers are dying. India is to blame for it. They are constructing dams one after another on upstream.
There are local causes also. Land grabbers are grabbing rivers to construct their structures. But government policy and several government organizations have been the main culprit.
Water development board has built sluice gates on many rivers, which have serious negative impact on water life. Loads and Highways department has constructed roads and high ways on rivers by narrowing down river while constructing culverts and bridges. But they could construct roads on parallel of river or could construct bridges considering the maintenance of river.
Others reasons of the devastation includes pollution, unplanned sand extraction, not dredging river bed properly, not taking proper measures to save river banks.
These comments came from Bangladesh environmental movement activists yesterday. They arranged a press conference on Dhaka Reporters Unity to mark international river protection day.
