Old Buriganga gets clean-up push
Authorities have launched a major cleanliness drive on Friday to restore the navigability of the Old Buriganga channel, a historic 7-kilometre waterway near Kamrangirchar and Rasulpur in Dhaka, after waste dumping and encroachment severely disrupted its flow.
The Dhaka district administration and volunteer-based youth organisation BD Clean jointly began the drive today at the Durani canal and adjacent areas following the Prime Minister’s directive to State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam to revive the waterway.
The government has moved to revive the Old Buriganga channel through a combination of waste removal, re-excavation, eviction drives and dredging, aiming eventually to turn the blocked waterway into an eco-friendly and public-friendly space.
The initiative was launched after authorities found parts of the channel and its adjoining areas being used as waste-dumping sites, with land encroachment further obstructing the flow of water.
Before the cleanliness operation began, State Minister Mir Shahe Alam administered an oath to stakeholders, including members of BD Clean.
Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Administrator M Abdus Salam, Dhaka-7 MP Hamidur Rahman and Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanam were also present.
Around 1,000 feet of the 3.2-kilometre-long Old Buriganga channel near the Durani Bridge area has become a waste-dumping site because of land encroachment. Other sections of the channel have also been affected. The resulting obstruction of water flow has brought foul smells, mosquito infestation and waterlogging, causing considerable suffering to local residents.
Waste removal from the channel and adjoining areas has begun alongside an awareness campaign urging residents not to dump waste in the waterway.
DSCC sources said initiatives would be taken to restore the channel’s navigability after the cleanliness drive is completed.
Plans also include beautifying both sides of the channel and constructing civic walkways to provide recreational space for local residents.
Inaugurating the drive, Mir Shahe Alam stressed the importance of keeping canals and rivers free of waste to protect public health and the environment.
“It is imperative to keep canals and rivers free from waste to protect the environment and public health. The joint initiative of the Dhaka district administration and BD Clean is praiseworthy.”
“We hope that the programme will be successfully completed and local people will benefit from it,” he added.
The government’s broader plan includes re-excavation, eviction drives and dredging projects to restore the blocked waterway and build modern civic walkways.
The Old Buriganga channel is a 7-kilometre historical waterway, while the section around the Durani Bridge area is 3.2 kilometres long and is considered the oldest water channel in Old Dhaka.
According to experts, normal water flow in the channel was hampered after the construction of the Dhaka flood-control embankment, widely known as the Beribadh, in the early 1990s.
The embankment was built to protect the western and northern parts of the city from seasonal river floods.
Against this backdrop, the government has taken the fresh initiative to restore the channel’s navigability and develop it as an eco-friendly and public-friendly water body.
Alongside the clean-up operation, the Dhaka district administration will maintain surveillance to prevent further encroachment and pollution of the channel.
