Rajab Ali, 91, cannot remember when he last saw clean, blue water in the Buriganga River. For years, the water has been black, red, green, yellow and all manner of other colours, accompanied by a sickly odour.
The source of the unnatural hues and main reason behind the sorry state of the river is the massive amount of chemicals that are dumped in it by azo dye factories, such as those in the Shyampur area of Dhaka.
“I have spent my whole life by the river. The chemicals are usually dumped at night to try to hide it, Rajab said.
The readymade garment industry (RMG) is the biggest export sector of Bangladesh, bringing in $31.45 billion in revenue in FY2020-2021. Alongside export oriented factories, numerous smaller factories cater to the local RMG market.
Many of these industries are inside and on the outskirts of Dhaka city, including in Narayanganj and Narsingdi, driving the demand for dyes.
Wastewater from synthetic azo dyes is extremely harmful to the environment, and some variants are even carcinogenic. However, Bangladesh still does not have any regulations to control production and sale of the dyes, while the wasteproducts from dye production continue to kill the country’s rivers.
ETPs just showpieces
Shyampur is home to over 500 dye factories. According to waste disposal guidelines, the industries are supposed to treat generated waste through an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP).
However, most of the factories geared for the local market do not have any ETPs. Many of the factories that do have ETPs keep them turned off to save costs, environmental experts said.
According to research by Waterkeepers Bangladesh in January 2021, the water of the Buriganga in Dhaka’s Shyampur had the lowest Water Quality Index (WQI) ranking during testing of water from different points of the river.
Dr Ahmed Kamaruzzaman Mazumder, lead researcher and dean of the Faculty of Environment Sciences of Stamford University, said the high levels of pollution in the Buriganga River is putting not only the ecosystem at risk but also having a severe impact on human health.
“We all know that the Buriganga barely has fish anymore. The remaining flora and fauna are also dying rapidly due to the carcinogenic dyes mixed into the water. It’s posing a threat to human lives as well. These azo dyes are extremely dangerous if they get on the skin, in the lungs or various other organs, and it can cause cancer in the long run,” he added.
Harmful chemicals are not only being dissolved in water, but also forming a layer of pollutants on the riverbed. This is resulting in the river becoming toxic and completely unsuitable for usage.
According to the information of the Department of Environment (DoE), Shyampur has around 200 factories. Apart from garments, re-rolling mills and steel mills are among the prominent industries.
Mohammad Masud Hasan Patwary, director of the monitoring and enforcement wing of the Department of Environment, claimed they regularly conducted drives.
“We regularly visit areas and fine factories if we find them violating laws. All the industries were given permission to set up there on the condition of setting up ETPs. Unfortunately, some owners keep ETPs off to save money,” he said.
Locals claimed factory owners were warned before drives were conducted so they could take measures to hoodwink the authorities.
