The environment of the Khajanagar-Kaburhat area in Kushtia's Sadar upazila is facing severe pollution due to the unchecked dumping of waste from automatic rice mills, thanks to the millers' failure to install effluent treatment plants (ETPs) and lax monitoring by the authorities concerned.
The sewage, coupled with solid waste from the mills, is also filling up the Ganga-Kapotaksha irrigation canal while polluting its water. This is badly affecting the production of crops in the area.
Fish in the canal and nearby water bodies are dying randomly due to the situation. Locals, too, are bearing the brunt of the bad odour emitting from the polluted water. Sources claim that at least 50,000 people are in trouble there now.
In brief, the biodiversity in the area is seriously threatened due to the situation.
Dhaka TribuneThe Khajanagar area is home to the country's second-largest wholesale market for rice. From Botttoil Union to Khajanagar and Kaburhat to Ailchara, there are nearly 55 such mills, none of which have an ETP.
Moreover, there are around 450 rice husking and processing mills there. Of them, 350 are operating currently.
Locals said that there is no end in sight to their suffering. The effluent is not only stinky and usable but also undrinkable, they added.
According to the Department of Environment, only 30 automatic rice mills are authorized while the rest are running illegally.
Khajanagar resident Akbar Hossain said that local farmers cannot grow crops as expected, mainly because of the waste from the mills.
"Many have also reported skin diseases after using water. This is why labourers from outside don't show interest in working on croplands here," he said.
Rahmat Miah, a tea stall owner, alleged that all solid and liquid wastes from the automatic rice mills directly fall into water bodies in the area, which is also fueling the menace of mosquitoes and flies.
Dhaka TribuneContacted, Bottoili Union Parisha Chairman Fakir Mintu said that the mill owners and authorities do not pay heed to their calls to stop the pollution.
The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) digs the canal every year to facilitate the smooth irrigation of local croplands, but it gets filled up as the dumping of waste goes unabated.
BWDB Executive Engineer Md Rashidur Rahman said that their efforts for smooth irrigation through the Ganga-Kapotaksha canal go in vain.
"Our urges to the millers not to dump waste into the canal go unheard," he maintained.
Hayat Mahmud, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said: "The effluent may contain heavy metals such as iron and lead that are harmful to both humans and plants."
Claiming that they are against pollution, Md Omar Faruq, president of the Bangladesh Auto Rice Mill Owners' Association (Kushtia chapter), said: "The solution is possible if only the government sets up a central ETP here. If so, the people and the biodiversity of the area will greatly benefit from this.”
