Dhaka stands at a crossroads. The city must enforce stricter environmental regulations, invest in wastewater treatment, and support community-led conservation efforts, writes Nur A Mahajabin Khan
ONCE, Nurul Islam’s nets would fill with fish, sustaining both his family and the local community. ‘Twenty years ago, this river water was good. It was full of life,’ recalls Nurul Islam, 70, in a Reuters interview in 2023. His family has lived along the Buriganga River for generations, relying on its waters for their livelihood.
But today, the river on which he once depended is little more than toxic wastewater. Industrial and domestic pollution have silenced its streams, leaving it nearly barren of life. With fish populations dwindling, Islam has been forced to abandon his ancestral trade, now selling street food from a small cart to survive.
What was once a source of life has become a source of misery. Rachel Carson, a pioneering environmental scientist and writer, played a crucial role in raising awareness about environmental degradation. Her seminal book Silent Spring (1962) exposed the dangers of chemical pollution and its devastating effects on ecosystems and human health in the United States. The voice of Nurul Islam echoes a greater environmental tragedy — one that resonates with Rachel Carson’s warning in Silent Spring:
‘No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.’
The slow death of Dhaka’s rivers is not the result of a sudden catastrophe but of years of neglect, irresponsible industrialisation, and environmental disregard.
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Neglect and the burden of industrialisation
DHAKA’S waterways have been neglected for decades — the result of poor environmental management dating back to early urbanisation. The absence of timely regulatory frameworks allowed river ecosystems to degrade over time, even as the city’s population and economic ambitions expanded. This historical negligence paved the way for a crisis exacerbated by rapid industrialisation.
Bangladesh’s thriving textile, tannery, and allied industries have expanded rapidly in recent decades, drastically increasing the discharge of untreated industrial waste into rivers. The unregulated growth of these sectors has contributed significantly to the accumulation of harmful substances — including ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) — in water bodies such as the Buriganga River (Ullah et al.).
Despite mounting evidence of environmental degradation, government efforts to enforce environmental standards and invest in adequate wastewater treatment facilities have remained insufficient. This regulatory inertia echoes Carson’s warning in Silent Spring, which highlighted how societal neglect and weak enforcement can lead to irreversible ecological destruction and severe public health consequences.
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A legacy of pollution and Dhaka’s dying rivers
Dhaka rapidly transformed into a thriving industrial hub, driven by an urgent economic necessity to boost export revenues and alleviate poverty — most notably through the expansion of the ready-made garment industry, which quickly became the backbone of the country’s economy.
However, the aggressive push for industrialisation was not matched by the establishment of proper wastewater treatment facilities. As a result, vast amounts of untreated industrial effluents and domestic sewage began to flow into the city’s rivers, marking a turning point in Dhaka’s environmental history.
Over time, these discharges transformed once-thriving water bodies into toxic, heavily contaminated systems, with severe consequences for public health and local ecosystems. This history highlights the deep contradiction between rapid economic growth and environmental sustainability — a dynamic that continues to shape Dhaka’s landscape today.
Pollution is now overwhelming Dhaka’s rivers, creating an environmental crisis of unprecedented scale. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and chromium have been detected in some water samples at levels exceeding regulatory limits by up to 310 times. Industrial effluents contribute approximately 60,000 cubic metres of toxic wastewater per day (Uddin et al., pp. 4-5).
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Human cost of toxic water
ACCORDING to a recent study, PFAS were detected in 75 per cent of Dhaka’s drinking water samples at levels exceeding US regulatory limits, with one sample surpassing the suggested EU threshold. Beyond PFAS, arsenic — a toxic mineral linked to skin lesions, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and developmental disorders in children — is present in half of Bangladesh’s well water (Euronews, 2024).
Tap water contaminated with heavy metals has resulted in widespread kidney disease, liver failure, and neurological impairments. Research in Dhaka’s communities has recorded a rise in gastrointestinal infections, skin diseases, and respiratory illnesses, especially among low-income households that depend on river water for daily use (Gosh et al., pp. 4-6).
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Reclaiming the future
DHAKA stands at a crossroads: continue with unchecked industrial expansion that poisons its rivers, or embrace a sustainable future. The city must enforce stricter environmental regulations, invest in wastewater treatment, and support community-led conservation efforts.
Economic growth should not come at the cost of ecological collapse. A balanced approach will ensure both prosperity and a liveable environment for future generations. Stronger regulations, better wastewater treatment, and active community participation are essential to restoring Dhaka’s rivers and securing long-term environmental and economic stability.
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Nur A Mahajabin Khan is a postgraduate student at the University of Glasgow.
