Environmentalists have alleged that the construction of a road through the Kohelia River in Maheshkhali is threatening the natural flow of the river alongside causing harm to the local fishermen and salt producing farms.
A press conference titled "Rights of Kohelia River" was held at Sagar-Runi Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Friday. Waterkeepers Bangladesh and Jatiya Nodi Jote jointly organized the event.
The conference was chaired by Sharmin Murshid, convener of Jatiya Nodi Jote, and Sharif Jamil, coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, delivered the keynote address.
"We are deeply saddened and sorry after visiting the Kohelia River twice. Everyone should work together to save this river as soon as possible,” Sharmin Murshid said.
Former chairman of the National River Protection Commission Dr Mujibur Rahman Hawlader said the parliament has made different policies and laws at different times but its proper implementation is not happening in all cases.
He said the rights of the Kohelia River are closely linked to human rights. There is no alternative to protecting the Kohelia River for sustainable development. The High Court and the Supreme Court have made it clear that this river belongs to the people.
Divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and people's representatives should come forward to protect this river, he said before adding that in order to keep the development unhindered, the road built on it should be removed immediately.
Sharif Jamil said that, in order to sustain the laudable steps of ongoing economic growth in the country, it is imperative to identify the real inconsistencies with the living entity of the river and its legal recognition and take steps to rectify it.
He further mentioned that more than 2,000 poor families living in the four unions – Kalarmarchhara, Dhalghata, Matarbari and Hwanak of Maheshkhali upazila – have been making a living from the river.
Sharif said that protests against the flooding of the river had taken place in Maheshkhali as the construction of the road had started to have a serious negative impact on the families of the fishermen.
The Maheshkhali and Matarbari areas are very important for the salt industry of the country. Heavy industrialization and river flooding in the area has also left a negative impact on salt farmers and related small and medium traders, he said.
Sharif further mentioned that the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court has upheld the High Court's 2019 decision recognizing rivers as "legal entities" and "living entities" for the purpose of granting legal rights to all rivers in the country.
He also noted that the right to river flow has been upheld through Bangladesh Water Act-2013. Therefore, if the river rights are violated in the case of the Kohelia River, it will have a negative impact on the rivers of the whole country, he said.
“So from today's (Friday) press conference, we are calling for the restoration of the rights of the Kohelia River,” he added.
Abu Bakkar Siddique, general secretary of Maheshkhali Branch of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), said that shrimps and salt are produced on both sides of the 20km-long Kohelia River in the north-south.
The destruction of the Kohelia River threatens the shrimp and the salt industries, which will result in government loss of thousands of acres of salt production, he said.
Waste from the under-construction Matarbari Coal Power Project has also been dumped in the river, causing its destruction, he added.
Saida Roksana Khan, a founding member of the Jatiya Nodi Jote, said that, although Bangladesh is a riverine country and a delta area, its rivers are being destroyed.
“If everyone moves together, Kohelia will be saved; and if Kohelia is saved, other rivers of the country will also be protected,” she said.
Director of the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Study (CAPS) Prof Dr Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder said: "We should carry out development activities in our country by ensuring the same environmental standards that countries like Japan and China adhere to.”
He noted that the construction of roads on the Kohelia river has resulted in evictions of locals, diversion of road length, deforestation, destruction of biodiversity, threat to livelihood of fishermen and salt farmers, and inadequate compensation.