A survey on different aspects of Buriganga River encroachment was conducted in a 300 meter long encroached part of the river located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 100 respondents were surveyed and three Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were arranged prior to the semi-structured questionnaire survey. It was observed that almost all of the respondents migrated to the study area. The majority of the respondents had better business opportunity (69.23%) as the cause of encroachment. Significant portions of the respondents occupying the encroached area were found to be landless (36.84%), small businessmen (31.58%) and people with political affluence (26.32%). Major portions (23.33%) of the encroached land were used for industrial development as well as housing and developmental projects. Negative health impact (40%) was found to be the main adverse effect of encroachment of the river. Other adverse effects included economic loss through obliteration of fisheries (35.71%), scarcity of clean water (32.14%), reduction of aesthetic value of the surroundings (25%) etc. For the protection of the river, the majority of the respondents opted for relocation of the industries (46.15%) and enforcement of strict rules and regulations (38.46%).
The Buriganga River, which demarcates the southwest extent of Dhaka City, is one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh [
Most of the industries and factories of Dhaka are mushroomed on the bank of the Buriganga or very close to the river system without setting up proper waste treatment units during the past decades. The urban sewage of Dhaka city is also thrown in the river. As a result, sedimentation and drying up of the river is aggravated with huge amount of effluents and solid wastes [
Encroachment is the primary cause for demolishing the bank of the Buriganga River which ultimately leads to narrowing of the river. Over the years, landfills created on the bank of the river have narrowed its width [
The study intended to explore the scenarios of encroachment around the river Buriganga that encompasses the south-western periphery of Dhaka City. To satisfy the objective, an approximate area of 300 meters between Babu-Bazar Boat Terminal and Mitford Ghat with permanent or temporary establishments of one row form the bank line of Buriganga River was selected as the study area.
Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources for conducting the present study. Primary data were collected by field investigation through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) followed by semi-structured questionnaire survey. The selected target group was the land users on the bank of the river. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was applied following the method as described in [
A semi-structured questionnaire containing ten questions was prepared by the surveyors. A total of 100 land users living on bank of the river were surveyed. Also, the data related to the demographics of the survey respondents including residence status, duration of residence in the region, gender, age etc. were collected. The results of the study were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
The origin of all the respondents was found to be outside of Dhaka City (
Parameter | Demographic information | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 88% |
Female | 12% | |
Ownership Pattern | Tenant | 26% |
None (Illegal temporary ownership) | 74% | |
Origin | Out of Dhaka | 100% |
Level of Education | Illiterate | 14% |
Primary | 67% | |
SSC | 19% | |
Land Possession | Landless | 100% |
population pressure due to migration seemed responsible for land encroachment. It was revealed through FGDs that selling or renting of the encroached land in cheap price worsened the situation. The respondents consisted of varying age group ranging from 15 to greater than 55 years who hardly possessed educational qualification up to SSC level and some were even illiterate. Lack of proper education seemed one of the reasons for river encroachment.
From
It was observed that majority of the population do not morally support the trend of river encroachment, although they were actively and/or passively responsible for the encroachment.
It was revealed that Buriganga River encroachment exerts a number of negative impacts (
ment is the negative health impact of the people living in the surrounding area (40%) as the encroached lands are achieved mostly through landfilling with urban wastes. Significant portion of the respondents also stated that pollution of water (28%) as well as hampering of ecosystem (24%) is the adverse impacts of encroachment. Buriganga River water is not safe for drinking purpose, irrigation, fisheries, and various industrial uses for most of the times of a year [
The present study found several economic losses due to river encroachment in the Buriganga (
contributed to the major portion of economic losses. As environmental protection and economic development concepts and reality are interrelated and inseparable [
It is vital for the country to protect, restore and preserve the Buriganga River and its watershed environment through Environmental Conservation Actions. According to the respondents, the most important steps to curb encroachment are to relocate the industries (46.15%) and to enforce strict laws and regulations (38.46%) (
It is a huge task to reform land management laws to recover thousands of acres of land inside the river Buriganga [
of the river and recreational facilities for tourists and for locals also and walls to protect the river and plant trees [
Protection and management of the Buriganga River have been a great challenge at present. Encroachment of this river is one of the burning questions of today’s modern world. Encroachment is done with an intention of more profit in trade and business. Numerous private land development activities, housing projects, industrial development as well as landfilling contributes to a large extent towards the encroachment process. Encroachment possesses great threat to our surrounding environment which leads to degraded ecosystem, poor economy as well as poor public health. Key strategy for controlling the encroachment must be based on the principles of Environmental Conservation Actions. Both Government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) must come forward by taking necessary measures to control the encroachment or to minimize the harmful impacts of it. This encroachment ultimately leads to increased protection and restoration of the river. Further detailed study is needed with more encroached areas of the river to get overall situation of the river encroachment.
The authors would like to thank the respondents of the survey for providing necessary information. Without their cooperation this work would not have been possible.
Mahmood, S., Nourin, F.T.J., Siddika, A. and Khan, T.F. (2017) Encroachment of the Buriganga River in Bangladesh. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 5, 266-273. https://doi.org/10.4236/jmmce.2017.55022