BANGLADESH: Dhakas dying rivers threaten residents
DHAKA, 13 July 2009 (IRIN): Severe pollution is rendering the rivers around the capital, Dhaka, biologically dead, with specialists warning the situation is beyond rescuing.
– The rivers around Dhaka have too little oxygen for the survival of aquatic life, Umme Kulsum Navera, assistant professor of Water Resource Engineering (WRE) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, told IRIN.
– The water is especially toxic during the dry seasons, he said.
While oxygen levels increase during the monsoons, they are still too low for a healthy, thriving aquatic environment.
According to research conducted by the WRE, some invertebrates and small organisms come to life in these rivers when water-flow increases at this time.
But in the dry season, these life forms completely disappear in the four major rivers that encircle the city, including the Buriganga, Shitalakhya, Turag and Balu.
According to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authorities (BIWTA), an average 300.000 people use the Sadarghat terminal on the Buriganga, one of the largest river ports in the world, each day.
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