Stop Water Pollution Now !

We are a non-profit organization, the Green Channel, comprising of students of various academic and financial backgrounds, who believe in a cleaner, greener and brighter Dhaka City.

All our members are Bangladeshi, but many of us are currently based or are studying abroad. We have had experience in various fields and subjects related to the environment and we truly want to help this city become a healthier and more environmentally-sustainable place to live in.

We have seen that WASA has similar commitments to this city. You are a dedicated group of individuals working with minimal funds and we applaud your efforts to improve the sewage system here. We truly appreciate the efforts that you have taken. However, we would like to bring back to your attention an issue that you had raised yourselves.

We are referring to the water and sewage systems in Gulshan. We are aware that a few years ago, WASA was rumored to have been involved in a project to create a more efficient system to handle the commercial waste that is being produced in this area that is currently being dumped into the water bodies of the city. This is having a hugely adverse affect on people. Current studies show that agricultural production can be hit by 40% due to pollution that is carried down by rivers to these areas. In an agriculturally-dependent economy such as ours, this is not only affecting the country’s overall financial structure but is also killing off the livelihood of our farmers. More directly, up to 29% of the earnings of the lowest income groups in the city are used up by them to tackle water-borne diseases.

Commercial ventures and most residential areas tend to dump their waste directly into the city’s water bodies despite these dire consequences. More shocking is the absolute lack of proper sewerage in Gulshan, which is one of the most densely populated areas of the city and is fast becoming its economic center. Another shocking fact is that most of the factories in and around Gulshan do not have ETPs even though it is illegal for these factories to be operating in these circumstances. 10% of garments factories with international contracts do not have waste treatment plants - which means they should lose their contracts as all international clothing chains require these. In Addition, more than 50% of factories which actually have waste treatment plants only use them during inspections, as they are very expensive to run.

We understand the bureaucratic and financial barriers you face. We are not naïve, nor are we impractical. However, there are two immediate steps we urge you to take. One is to resume the project that aims to build a better drainage system in Gulshan, which as a result will minimize the lake pollution in that area. The other is to start checking on these industries which are blatantly flouting the laws being passed to improve the current situation. We also encourage you to increase the awareness of the environmental situation to the masses.

In exchange, we will give you our full support and arrange talks with our donors (which helped us raise $4000 in a month). We also pledge to provide you with volunteers for any cleaning drives you wish to initiate, a plan which we have already executed ourselves.

We, the citizens of the country, strongly feel this will be a mutually beneficial arrangement and we hope you seriously consider discussing it, if not accepting it outright.