Buriganga

Buriganga (; ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. It ranks among the most polluted rivers in the country.

Importance

The Buriganga is economically very important to Dhaka. Launches and country boats provide connection to other parts of Bangladesh, a largely riverine country.

Pollution

In the 20th century the water table and river became polluted by polyethylene waste and other hazardous substances from demolished buildings near the river banks.

The Buriganga river ranks among the most polluted rivers in the country. The chemical waste of mills and factories, household waste, medical waste, sewage, dead animals, plastics, and oil are some of the Buriganga's many pollutants. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4,500 tons of solid waste every day, and most of it is released into the Buriganga. According to the Bangladesh Department of Environment, of toxic waste are released into the river by the tanneries every day. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal. Most of the industrial units of these areas have no industrial wastewater treatment plants of their own.

According to the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), about of untreated wastewater are released into the lake from Tejgaon, Badda and Mohakhali industrial areas every day. The wastewater mostly comes from garment washing and dyeing plants. Textile industries annually discharge as much as 56 million tonnes of waste and 0.5 million tonnes of sludge. Sewage is also released into the Buriganga.

Because of Dhaka's heavy reliance on river transport for goods, including food, the Buriganga receives especially high amounts of food waste since unusable or rotting portions of fruits, vegetables, and fish are thrown into the river.

History

According to R. C. Majumdar, in the distant past, a course of the Ganges river probably used to reach the Bay of Bengal through the Dhaleshwari River. The Buriganga originated from the Dhaleshwari in the south of Savar, near Dhaka .

When the Mughals made Dhaka their capital in 1610, the banks of the Buriganga were already a prime location for trade. The river was also the city's main source of drinking water.

Gallery

Image:Large launches waiting at Sadarghat on the Buriganga River.jpg, Large launches waiting at Sadarghat on the Buriganga for different destinations in Bangladesh
Image:A boatman sells pineapples at Sadarghat on the Buriganga River.jpg, A boatman sells pineapples at Sadarghat on the Buriganga
Image:Dhaka-bangla-port.jpg, Sadarghat port on the Buriganga River, Dhaka city
Image:Steamers in Sadarghat Dhaka.jpg, Sadarghat port on the Buriganga river is an important river transport hub
Image:BD Sadarghat 4.JPG, Small boats ply on the Buriganga at Sadarghat
Image:BurigangaReclaim.JPG, Land reclamation on the Buriganga river dredges sand and deposits it on the floodplain.
Image:Evening of Burigonga River.jpg, Evening of Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Image:Buriganga River Sunset.jpg, Sunset of Buriganga River
Image:BD Sadarghar 1.JPG, Launch
Image:View of the Buriganga river at Sadarghat.jpg, View of the Buriganga river at Sadarghat area with some launches

References

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External links

Youtube.com: Time lapse video of the Buriganga River

{{Coord, 23, 38, N, 90, 26, E, display=title, region:BD_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki

Rivers of Bangladesh
Geography of Dhaka
Dhaka District
Ganges basin
Environmental issues in Bangladesh
Rivers of Dhaka Division