- Moazzem Hossain Tipu
Bangladesh is widely known as a riverine country. Its rivers are not merely part of the country’s geography; they are closely connected with agriculture, fisheries, navigation, industry, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of millions of people. Yet many of the country’s rivers are now under severe pressure from untreated industrial effluents, municipal sewage, and solid waste.
Various government assessments of river and water quality have highlighted serious concerns about pollution in and around major urban and industrial areas. According to a national water-quality assessment by the Department of Environment (DoE), municipal and industrial solid waste, untreated sewage, and industrial effluents are among the major sources of river pollution in areas surrounding major cities and urban centres. Information from the River Pollution Monitoring System of the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) has also identified rapid urbanization, industrialization, and inadequate waste management as major contributors to river pollution. A survey conducted in 2022–23 reportedly identified 56 rivers as severely polluted by industrial, municipal, and plastic waste.
Dhaka’s Rivers: A Visible Example of the Crisis
The river-pollution crisis is particularly evident in and around Dhaka. Rivers such as the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Shitalakshya have been under prolonged pressure from industrial effluents, sewage, solid waste, and urban pollution.
According to the Department of Environment’s water-quality assessment based on 2022 data, elevated levels of BOD, COD, and turbidity were recorded in the Buriganga, Balu, and Turag rivers. The Buriganga recorded particularly high levels of BOD and COD at different times during the year, while significant pollution was also recorded in the Balu and Turag. The assessment further indicated that water quality in rivers around Dhaka tends to deteriorate during the dry season, while increased river flow during the monsoon can contribute to comparatively better water quality.
BOD, or Biochemical Oxygen Demand, indicates the amount of oxygen required by microorganisms to break down organic matter in water. A high BOD level can reduce dissolved oxygen in the water, creating adverse conditions for fish and other aquatic organisms.
Sewage Is Another Major Challenge
When river pollution is discussed, industrial waste often receives the most attention. However, untreated municipal sewage is an equally important part of the problem. According to a World Bank report published in February 2026, only around 20 percent of Dhaka’s residents are connected to piped sewerage systems, while approximately another 2 percent have access to functional fecal-sludge management services. As a result, more than 80 percent of Dhaka’s untreated sewage and wastewater enters interconnected waterways.
This is not merely an environmental concern. When untreated sewage enters rivers and other water bodies, it increases organic pollution and may introduce pathogens and other contaminants, creating significant risks to public health.
Must the Rivers Pay the Price of Industrialization?
The concentration of industries around Dhaka has intensified the pressure on the city’s rivers. According to 2026 World Bank information, more than 7,000 factories in and around Dhaka discharge an estimated 2.4 billion liters of untreated wastewater into waterways every day. The World Bank has identified industrial pollution as a major challenge to improving water quality in Dhaka.
However, blaming industries alone would not present the complete picture. Inadequate sewerage systems, weak solid-waste management, urban drainage, and the widespread practice of directly dumping waste into rivers are also contributing to the crisis. In other words, river pollution is largely the combined result of multiple sources and systemic weaknesses.
Treatment Facilities Exist—But Are They Working Effectively?
Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) are essential for managing industrial wastewater, while Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) play a crucial role in treating municipal sewage. However, simply having treatment facilities in place is not enough. Their regular operation, maintenance, compliance, and effectiveness must also be ensured.
The World Bank’s 2026 program addressing water pollution in Dhaka places emphasis on industrial wastewater treatment, water reuse, practical pollution-monitoring systems, and river restoration. The program also includes plans for integrated river-restoration strategies for Dhaka’s four major rivers and digital real-time pollution monitoring. This makes one point clear: tackling river pollution requires more than occasional enforcement drives or fines. Identifying pollution sources, treating wastewater, conducting regular monitoring, and ensuring accountability must form part of an integrated system.
Is River Water Merely an Environmental Issue?
The consequences of polluted river water extend far beyond the rivers themselves. Aquatic habitats can be degraded, fisheries and biodiversity can be affected, and the livelihoods of river-dependent communities can come under increasing pressure. Human health may also be affected when people come into contact with contaminated water or pollutants originating from polluted waterways.
The Department of Environment’s national water-quality assessment identifies sewage, solid waste, industrial waste, and liquid industrial discharges among the major sources of surface-water pollution in Bangladesh. In urban areas, industrial pollution has been identified as one of the significant causes of surface-water degradation. Therefore, protecting rivers is not merely a demand raised by environmental activists. It is a matter of public health, food security, economic resilience, and sustainable urban management.
What Needs to Be Done?
The first priority in reducing river pollution should be to stop pollution at its source. Preventing contaminated wastewater from entering rivers is far more effective than attempting to clean polluted water after contamination has already occurred.
First, Industrial facilities must ensure the effective operation of ETPs, while the quality of discharged effluents should be regularly monitored and independently verified.
Second, Direct discharge of municipal sewage into rivers and waterways must be stopped by expanding effective sewerage systems and adequately designed and properly operated STPs.
Third, Effective collection and management systems must be established to prevent solid waste—particularly plastic and polythene—from being dumped into rivers and canals.
Fourth, Pollution data should be regularly disclosed to the public. Information on where pollution is occurring, what is causing it, and to what extent prescribed standards are being exceeded should be made accessible and transparent.
Fifth, Environmental laws must be enforced consistently and accountably. One-off enforcement drives are not enough; continuous monitoring and effective action against polluters are essential.
Sixth, Effective coordination must be established among the Department of Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources, local government institutions, WASA, city corporations, and other relevant agencies to ensure integrated river management.
The Time to Save Our Rivers Is Now
Protecting Bangladesh’s rivers from pollution is not impossible. But it requires a fundamental shift away from the traditional approach of allowing pollution to occur and attempting to clean it up afterwards. The priority must be to control pollution at its source. The government has already undertaken major initiatives to address water pollution in the Dhaka region. The World Bank’s 2026 program brings together sanitation, solid-waste management, industrial pollution control, real-time pollution monitoring, and river restoration. However, such programs will succeed only if implementation is transparent, consistent, effective, and accountable.
The most important question, therefore, remains: Are Untreated Waste Discharges Killing Bangladesh’s Rivers? The answer is not found merely in the color or odor of river water. It can also be understood through government water-quality data, identified sources of pollution, and the current state of urban waste management. What is needed now is to acknowledge the scale of the problem and take decisive action to stop pollution at its source. Because no country can achieve sustainable development while treating its rivers as dumping grounds for untreated waste.
Writer: Moazzem Hossain Tipu, Environmental and Public Health Development Activist.