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The Barnoi River, once a lifeline for the Barind region, has turned into a channel of poison carrying Rajshahi City Corporation’s untreated sewage, industrial runoff and hospital wastes.

The river was once a source of water and livelihood but is now spreading disease and despair among people living along its banks.

Environmental experts and researchers said that decades of negligence by the city corporation had transformed the river into a toxic drain, posing a serious threat to public health, agriculture and regional ecology.

According to officials, the RCC, as per a plan taken in 1994, completed construction of two canals in December 2008 to drain municipal wastewater into the Barnoi River. Since then, the river has been receiving waste through the canals.

‘We used to use the river water for bathing and cooking before the city corporation started draining wastewater. Now, we cannot touch it in fear of disease,’ said housewife Rakhi Das, who lives on the riverbank at Nawhata under Paba upazila in Rajshahi district.

Her neighbour Sudhi Chandra Sarkar said that during the dry season, the water smells so foul that it becomes unbearable to stay nearby. ‘We can’t eat, sleep, or do anything in peace,’ he said.

He added that fish often die when the water turns badly toxic.

Bachar Asha Sangskritik Sangathan founding president Mostafa Bijli said that about three lakh people, mostly belonging to low-income group, across seven upazilas of Rajshahi and Natore districts were suffering from waterborne skin diseases caused by exposure to the polluted water of the river.

‘In our locality alone, more than 800 people are suffering from various skin diseases,’ he said.

Milon Mahmud, medical officer at Nawhata Health and Family Welfare Centre, said that the number of the patients with skin diseases had doubled in recent years.

Saifur Rahman, a farmer who uses the river water for irrigation, said that they, despite knowing that the water causes skin diseases and harms the soil and crops, use it as they had no alternative source of water.

Chittaranjan Das, 55, said that the river once teemed with fish and, due to the scarcity of fish, many have now changed their profession. ‘The fish here are no longer edible.’

Mizanoor Rahman, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Rajshahi University, said that the contamination originated mainly from domestic sewage, untreated hospital effluent and industrial waste from factories inside the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation estate.

‘Toxic discharge from hospitals, including Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, contains resistant pathogens and biomedical contaminants that pose serious health risks,’ he said.

The BSCIC area has around 200 factories but has no effluent treatment plant, he said.

‘Even, waste from vehicle repair shops adds to the problem, as garages servicing about 20,000 battery-run three-wheelers routinely dump spent battery acid into the drains,’ he said.

One of the two canals runs beside a large livestock market where dead animals and slaughter waste are dumped into the drains, he said.

A study by the Rajshahi University Geography and Environmental Science Department, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, found that Barnoi’s water had become biologically dead.

Samples collected from South Nowdapara showed dissolved oxygen levels as low as 1.2 mg per litre, far below the 4–5 mg needed to sustain aquatic life. Conductivity and alkalinity were found at abnormally high levels, indicating excessive dissolved solids and chemical contamination.

Soil samples from adjacent farmland also showed heavy contamination with lead, cadmium, chromium and zinc.

Professor Mizanoor said that these metals could accumulate in crops and gradually enter the food chain, creating long-term risks of cancer and organ failure.

A 2024 study using a USEPA-modeled health risk assessment found that children were disproportionately exposed to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks from chromium and arsenic. Long-term exposure, the study warned, could cause neurological, renal and cancerous effects among residents who use river water for bathing, irrigation, or fishing.

Environmental lawyers and rights groups said that the city corporation’s actions violated the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 and the Environment Conservation Rules 1997, which classify industrial and municipal waste as hazardous and require treatment before disposal.

‘Despite clear evidence of harm, neither the Department of Environment nor the city authorities have taken action against the RCC, hospitals or industries responsible for dumping untreated waste,’ said Tanmay Kumer Sanyal, divisional coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association.

Experts urged urgent steps, including the construction of a central sewerage system, mandatory ETP operation in all industries and medical support for affected families.

‘The contamination of the Barnoi River is not just an environmental issue – it is a human rights crisis. Without immediate action, the entire region’s health, food and future will remain at risk,’ said Professor Mizanoor.

Acknowledging the crisis, RCC chief conservancy officer Sheikh Md Mamun said that they had recently submitted a proposal to the local government ministry for the management of the city’s solid and liquid waste.

Rajshahi Water Supply and Sewerage Authority chief engineer Parvez Mamud said that, after completing a feasibility study, they had also submitted a preliminary development project proposal for the construction of a central sewerage system.