The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

The Sayedabad and Chandnighat water treatment plants may become useless in the near future, if the pollution of water of Buriganga and Sitalakhya rivers goes on unabated, environmentalists and experts warned.

If the water pollution continues at the present rate, toxicity will go beyond the level of purification making the plants useless within 10 years and ultimately creating an acute crisis of water in the city, they added.

"Due to the pollution of the Buriganga and Sitalakhya, we have to use excessive chemical to treat the water in the plants, which creates bad smell in the supply water. It also increases the cost of the water treatment," an official of Dhaka Water Supply Authority (DWASA) said.

He, however, appreciated the recent initiative of the Department of Environment (DoE) to force the industries to use effluent treatment plants.

Abu Naser Khan, environmentalist, said, "This is a positive sign. It will check the industrial wastes and thus prevent water and environment pollution. If the DoE can ensure the use of effluent treatment plants in all industries, pollution of water in Buriganga and other rivers and canals will reduce significantly."

Industrial wastes contain toxins like chromium, mercury and lead, a certain level of which can be treated in the plants, but the continuation of pollution of water of the Buriganga and Sitalakhya rivers at the present rate will make the water untreatable within a decade, he added.

The Dhaka WASA official denied the news of pollution of water of the Buriganga and Sitalakhya and emphatically said, "The industrial toxicity is still under control, but it will be quite impossible to use the water for the plants within 10 years if the pollution continues at the present rate."

Pollution of the city canals and the River Balu has to be reduced to control Sitalakhya pollution, he also said.

"Pollution of Buriganga is turning serious because of untreated domestic and industrial wastes. Wastes of the tanneries in Hazaribagh and Jigatala areas are mainly responsible for the pollution," he added.

The Sayedabad and Chandnigaht water treatment plants respectively supply about 22.50 crore and 4 crore litres of water against the total WASA supply 176 crore litres per day and the rest of the water comes from 454 deep tube-wells. The daily demand for water in the Dhaka city is 200 crore litres.

Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant uses Sitalakhya water while Chadnighat Water Treatment Plant uses Buriganga water.

A number of canals in the Dhaka city carry a large quantity of sewage, industrial and other wastes into the River Balu that flows into the Sitalakhya.

Prof Nazrul Islam, Chairman of Centre for Urban Studies (CUS), said, "The pollution level of the river Buriganga is very high due to the discharge of sewages and industrial and other wastes, mainly from tanneries."

Wastes from WASA sewages at Moghbazar, Sayedabad, Mugda, Manda, Basabo, Madartek and adjoining areas flow into the Debodholai and Narai canals, which fall into the Sitalakhya through the Balu, he added.

Industries in Tejgaon and Mohakhali also dispose wastes into the river Balu through the canals, as industries on both sides of the Sitalakhya do not have effluent treatment plants, said the experts.