A reckless waste

No control: Thousands of steamers and goods-carrying cargo vehicles also pour thousands of tonnes of used engine oil and other waste into the rivers. – The Daily Star/Asia News Network

DHAKA was made the capital of the Mughal Empire's Bengal province in 1610, on the bank of Buriganga. As we entered the modern era and the city expanded, we realised that, compared to other cities, we were four times as lucky as greater Dhaka was also surrounded by three other rivers – Turag, Balu, and Shitalakkhya, and a fourth one if we include Tongi Khal, making a necklace of five rivers.

It was virtually a "sweet water island" – if not the only one then definitely one of the very few in the world. The city was further replenished by the life-generating annual monsoon rains. Its underground water reservoir almost burst at the seams as its rain-fed recharge was far more than needed.Like the nerves in our body, 200 canals, hundreds of lakes and water bodies, including thousands of ponds, kept Dhaka among the richest cities in the world in terms of its sweet water supply. Few cultures celebrate water, rivers, and rain as we do through our literature, song, poetry, dance, culinary specialities, festivities, and life in general.