e_Paper (23 December 2016)
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DT<br />
20<br />
Editorial<br />
FRIDAY, DECEMBER <strong>23</strong>, <strong>2016</strong><br />
TODAY<br />
No place<br />
to call home<br />
There is still time as the bill is yet to<br />
become law, but the clock is ticking. The<br />
next parliamentary session is around<br />
the corner. The government must be<br />
put under pressure to bring the draft<br />
in line with Bangladesh’s international<br />
obligations and the Constitution<br />
PAGE 21<br />
The scenic tour<br />
For achieving the SDGs through<br />
tourism, we need cooperation from<br />
various ministries as well as private<br />
tourism stake-holders<br />
PAGE 22<br />
ROBIN CHOWDHURY<br />
Save our rivers before it is too late<br />
A social cancer<br />
Within the discourse of harassment,<br />
more often than the other sex, it is<br />
predominantly women who are the<br />
victims<br />
PAGE <strong>23</strong><br />
Be heard<br />
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DhakaTribune.<br />
The views expressed in opinion<br />
articles are those of the authors<br />
alone and they are not the<br />
official view of Dhaka Tribune<br />
or its publisher.<br />
It is a sad commentary that a country known for rivers has allowed its<br />
rivers to be polluted to this extent.<br />
A recent study reveals that the rivers Buriganga, Shitalakkhya,<br />
Dhaleshwari, Turag Bongshi, and Balu are so severely contaminated<br />
that it is impossible to even treat the water to make it usable for humans.<br />
Such levels of pollution spells death for aquatic life, and even various<br />
industries.<br />
This situation is nothing short of tragic. Bangladesh is a riverine country,<br />
with rivers inextricably tied to not just our heritage but also our livelihood.<br />
It is time, then, to get serious about protecting the rivers that can still be<br />
saved.<br />
The government has done a good thing in setting up a high-level<br />
committee to save rivers around Dhaka and Chittagong’s Karnaphuli. It is<br />
certainly high time that such an initiative was undertaken.<br />
The committee would do well to stop the continuous discharge of the<br />
thousands of tons of industrial waste, garbage, and sewage water into our<br />
rivers.<br />
In the past, we have seen projects to clean up rivers such as<br />
Shitalakkhya fail because of the impunity granted to polluters.<br />
Industrial sites such as tanneries also need to be relocated away from<br />
rivers.<br />
Ultimately, it is blatant disregard for the law and the environment which<br />
has made cleaning up our rivers such a difficult endeavour.<br />
Needless to say, polluters must pay the price for the damage they have<br />
caused.<br />
Recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stressed the importance of<br />
protecting our water resources. Every living organism requires water to<br />
survive. As such, it is the most precious commodity on the planet.<br />
It is, then, a shame how we have abused and failed to protect our rivers.<br />
We have made mistakes in the way we have treated our rivers so far. Let<br />
us not continue to make those mistakes in the future.<br />
We have made mistakes in<br />
the way we have treated<br />
our rivers so far. Let us not<br />
continue to make those<br />
mistakes in the future