Dhaka, March 14, 2025
Figure: Environmental Activists Demand Restoration of Rivers and Canals.
Environmentalists, civil society leaders, and youth representatives gathered today in the capital to observe the International Day of Action for Rivers 2025 with a call to free the country’s rivers and canals from pollution and encroachment. The event included a symbolic human chain at Sadarghat Terminal and a field inspection of the Buriganga River, highlighting the critical condition of one of Dhaka’s most iconic waterways.
The event was jointly organised by over 20 prominent organisations, including Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Buriganga Bachao Andolon, Green Voice, WBB Trust, Nongor Trust, Nagorik Udyog, Riverine People, BARCIK, CDP, CWF, and several other environmental and community-based groups. The programme ran from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, featuring a boat journey from Sadarghat to Basila Bridge to assess the visible degradation of the Buriganga River due to untreated waste, industrial discharge, and illegal structures.
Speaking at the event, Mihir Biswas, Convener of the International Rivers Day 2025 Celebration Committee and Joint Secretary of BAPA, emphasised, “We are witnessing the slow death of our rivers. Without collective action from the government and citizens, the country’s natural lifelines will vanish under concrete and toxins.”
The river inspection was led by a distinguished panel of environmental leaders, including Md. Alamgir Kabir, General Secretary of BAPA; Prof. Dr. Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder, Chairman of CAPS; Zakir Hossain, Executive Director of Nagorik Udyog; Sumon Shams, Chairman of Nongor Trust; Humayun Kabir Sumon, Co-coordinator of Green Voice; and Dr. Halim Dad Khan, a BAPA executive member, among others.
Participants raised slogans and displayed placards calling for the urgent implementation of river protection laws, the eviction of illegal occupiers, and investment in sustainable river management. Speakers also stressed the importance of integrating youth in river advocacy and community-based conservation.
A key moment of the programme was a media briefing held at 11:30 AM, where speakers shared their observations from the boat inspection and outlined recommendations for immediate government intervention.
Organisers expressed hope that the programme would spark renewed public and political attention to the state of the country’s rivers. They pledged to continue advocacy efforts until concrete action is taken to reclaim and restore Bangladesh’s waterways.
