Bangladesh saw exports soar more than 34 per cent to $52.08 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year (July 2021-June 2022)…reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh exported goods worth more than $5 billion in November, the highest ever in a month, as demand for ready-made garment items continued to soar, according to the latest official data.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed Bangladesh exported goods worth $5,092.56 million in November, which was 26.01 per cent higher than the same month a year ago, Xinhua news agency reported.
The EPB data showed that Bangladesh’s total exports in the first five months of the current 2022-23 fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023) reached nearly $21.95 billion, up 10.89 per cent year-on-year.
Of the total earnings, the EPB data showed the country’s income from ready-made knitwear and woven garment items surged 15.61 per cent to $18.33 billion during the cited period.
Bangladesh saw exports soar more than 34 per cent to $52.08 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year (July 2021-June 2022), official data showed.
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WB’s $250mn for B’desh
The World Bank has approved $250 million in financing to help Bangladesh strengthen environmental management and promote private sector participation in green investment.
The Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) Project will support the Department of Environment to strengthen its technical and administrative capacity, the Washington-based lender said in a statement on Friday.
The statement said successful implementation of the project will help the South Asian country tackle key pollution issues, benefitting over 21 million people living in Greater Dhaka and beyond, reports Xinhua news agency.
“Bangladesh’s rapid economic growth and urbanization have come at a high environmental cost in terms of pollution. Not only that the pollution is impacting our health, but also it is eroding the country’s economic competitiveness,” said Dandan Chen, World Bank acting country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“The World Bank has been a long-standing partner to Bangladesh in tackling environmental challenges. This project will strengthen the country’s environmental institutions to better control pollution and promote sustainable development,” she added.
Farman Ali to Yahya Khan â men behind the Bangladesh genocide.
In none of the Pakistanis who were involved in the dark history of 1971 was there any fear of God and morality as they went about committing genocide in occupied Bangladesh. They cheerfully killed Bengalis, raped women, burnt and pillaged, all in the name of God and the territorial integrity of Pakistan…writes SYED BADRUL AHSAN
I recall that on my very first visit to Pakistan in December 1995 (nearly twenty-five years after I had left it as a high school student in July 1971), as part of a group of journalists at a conference organized by the South Asian Media Association (SAMA), the general manager of the IFIC bank branch in Lahore acquainted us with how he had once rebuffed Rao Farman Ali.
Apparently, the man reviled for planning the killing of Bengali intellectuals had once come to the IFIC bank, ostensibly to open an account. The general manager, a proper Bengali and a freedom fighter to boot, made him sit down but did not shake hands with him. “I had no wish to touch his blood-stained hand,” he told us.
Farman Ali clearly did not relish the rebuff, much though he tried to be friendly with the general manager. He left, with a form for an account to be opened, promising to return. He never did. Rao Farman Ali, who was a prisoner of war in India after the 1971 war, was later to serve as a minister in General Ziaul Haq’s regime. He died in January 2004.
On a PIA flight from Karachi to Lahore years ago, I became acquainted with a retired Pakistani Brigadier named A.R. Siddiqi. He seemed to be a proper gentleman and explained to me that back in 1971 he had been in charge of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Siddik Salik, he told me, was his subordinate in Dhaka. Brigadier Siddiqi told me of the shock he went through when the Pakistan army launched its genocide, for he had been in Dhaka when Operation Searchlight was launched.
“I am writing my account of the war,” Siddiqi told me. I asked him if he meant to reveal everything in his book. He promised he would. I am glad to report that when the book, ‘East Pakistan: The Endgame: An Onlooker’s Journal 1969-1971’, appeared some years later, Siddiqi kept his promise. His account of the crisis, especially of the early days of Operation Searchlight, was riveting. It is one of the few objective books to have come out of Pakistan from a Pakistani who was part of the military establishment in 1971.
I have not met Brigadier Siddiqi after that conversation on the Karachi-Lahore flight. But years earlier, I did have an opportunity to come across Brigadier Siddik Salik, the writer of the acclaimed book Witness to Surrender, when he accompanied General Ziaul Haq to the first SAARC summit in Dhaka in December 1985. He spoke fondly, as he said (though I detected a certain cynicism in him) of his time in Dhaka throughout the war.
I asked him what difference he noticed between 1971 and 1985 in Bangladesh. His glib reply was: “People here are poorer than before.” In other words, Pakistan was good, Bangladesh was not. I decided I did not want to get into a quarrel with him and focused on General Ziaul Haq and Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, the two men sitting on my right.
Siddik Salik was taken prisoner on 16 December 1971 and spent nearly three years in a PoW camp in India before returning to Pakistan with his fellow prisoners. He perished in the air crash that killed General Ziaul Haq, a number of senior military officers and the American ambassador to Pakistan in August 1988.
Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, who had resigned in March 1971 rather than initiate a military operation against Bengalis, subsequently became ambassador to the United States and, under Ziaul Haq, served as Pakistan’s foreign minister. It was a position he retained in Benazir Bhutto’s first government. He died in January 2016.
Khadim Hussain Raja, the general who was told by Tikka Khan early on the morning of 25 March, “Khadim, it is tonight,” went into full-scale action against Bengalis as midnight drew near. Over the next couple of weeks, his soldiers fanned out all across Dhaka and then beyond it, shooting everyone they came across. Once the initial phase of the pogrom was done, Raja was transferred to West Pakistan, where he was given a fresh command.
Raja did not return to Dhaka and therefore was lucky enough to avoid becoming a PoW. After his retirement from the army, he jotted down his recollections of the war in Bangladesh, leaving his family with instructions that they should not be published in his lifetime. It was only after his death that his book, titled ‘A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan 1969-1971’, hit the stands. He died in 1999.
General Tikka Khan, who in his career earned the dubious distinction of being known as the Butcher of Baluchistan and then as the Butcher of Bangladesh, remained unconcerned by any questions about his role in the killing of Bengalis. After serving as governor and martial law administrator (the latter position till April 1971) of East Pakistan, he left for West Pakistan in September 1971 to take over as a corps commander.
Under Z.A. Bhutto, Tikka Khan became Pakistan’s chief of army staff and on his retirement joined the Pakistan People’s Party. He served as secretary general of the party as well as governor of Punjab. He died of old age ailments in March 2002.
Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi took over as martial law administrator, East Pakistan, in April 1971 and continued in that position till he signed the document of the Pakistan army’s surrender to Indo-Bangladesh forces in December of the year. After spending three years as a prisoner of war in India, he returned home to a bad reception. He was stripped of his rank and excoriated for surrendering in Dhaka. He later went into politics by joining the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan, but could not make much headway. He died in February 2004.
General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, who as president of Pakistan and chief martial law administrator, ordered military operations against Bengalis in March 1971, presided over the break-up of the country nine months later. Compelled to hand over power to Pakistan People’s Party chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 20 December 1971, he spent the entire period of the Bhutto dispensation in house arrest. It was only when General Ziaul Haq overthrew Bhutto in July 1977 that Yahya Khan was freed from confinement. He died, in disgrace, in August 1980.
And then there is the fate of the conspiratorial and inordinately ambitious Bhutto himself. With East Pakistan turning into Bangladesh, Bhutto became President by default of what remained of Pakistan.
With the enactment of a new constitution for Pakistan in August 1973, he took over as Prime minister under a parliamentary form of government. Overthrown by the army after a long period of violence following rigged elections in March 1977, he was executed on conviction for murder in April 1979.
In none of the Pakistanis who were involved in the dark history of 1971 was there any fear of God and morality as they went about committing genocide in occupied Bangladesh. They cheerfully killed Bengalis, raped women, burnt and pillaged, all in the name of God and the territorial integrity of Pakistan.
All of them paid the price on a December afternoon when, in the ringing words of Indira Gandhi, Dhaka stood liberated as the free capital of a free country.
(The writer is a senior Bangladeshi journalist based in Dhaka and London; the content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
The Bangladesh envoy thanked for the opportunity to present the credentials and conveyed greetings from President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina….reports Sumi Khan
President Droupadi Murmu has said that Bangladesh occupies a special place in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
She made the remark after the newly-appointed Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Mustafizur Rahman presented his credentials to the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.
“The India-Bangladesh relations are bounded by language, culture, and history, and the unique ties is forged in shared sacrifices,” she said.
Welcoming the envoy, President Murmu mentioned that Bangladesh is the largest trade partner of India in South Asia and also recalled the joint celebrations of Mujib Year, the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation and the 50th years of establishment of Bangladesh-India diplomatic ties.
She also spoke about her meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in September in New Delhi and later in London.
The Bangladesh envoy thanked for the opportunity to present the credentials and conveyed greetings from President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He mentioned India’s moral and material support during the 1971 War of Liberation under Sheikh Mujibur’s leadership.
“The Indo-Bangladesh cooperation, in fact, began in the battlefield of 1971,” he said, adding the bilateral ties have reached a new height and described it as a model of “neighbourhood relations”.
He assured President Mumru that he would endeavour to further expand and consolidate the relations.
The envoy also thanked India for inviting Bangladesh to the G20 Summit to be held in September 2023.
Hasina led Awami League has been in power in Bangladesh for the last 14 years. But the opposition is now regrouping itself ahead of the elections….reports Asian Lite News
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who faces a tough election next year, said on Monday that the country has undergone a significant change in the last few years and it will continue to tread the path of development and prosperity.
Hasina led Awami League has been in power in Bangladesh for the last 14 years. But the opposition is now regrouping itself ahead of the elections.
“We have to advance more as the developing country and turn it into a developed one. And we have formulated that plan, Hasina said at the reception held to honour the gallantry award winning freedom fighters of the armed forces and their heirs.
“We are trying tirelessly. Now at least we can say that the people of the world will not undermine Bangladeshis,” she said, adding that the country has already formulated Vision 2041 and Delta Plan 2100 for the future generations.
Last year, the 75 years old Hasina told her cabinet, “We’ve got established ourselves as a developing country. We’ve reached here overcoming so many hurdles both from home and abroad.”
“Bangladesh is now independent, and it’ll remain independent. We’ll build it as Golden Bangladesh of the Father of the Nation,” she said.
The Asian Development Bank in its recently published outlook has projected a 7.2 per cent growth for Bangladesh, which was once called as a basket case by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The country is also gearing up to exit the list of Least Developed Countries.
A peaceful and developing Bangladesh is critical for India as well as South Asia.
The 130-km India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) project aims to import oil products from the Siliguri Marketing Terminal in West Bengal….reports Sumi Khan
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed hope to import oil from India by 2023 through a proposed pipeline project.
She made the remarks on Sunday during a meeting with Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Biswajit Daimary at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka.
The Speaker led a four-member delegation which is part of a team of 32 MLAs from the northeast visiting Bangladesh.
The 130-km India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) project aims to import oil products from the Siliguri Marketing Terminal in West Bengal.
Hasina also mentioned the connectivity routes which were closed during the 1965 war, saying the routes were now being opened in phases.
The Prime Minister also expressed gratitude to the contribution of the northeastern statesand West Bengal for sheltering the freedom fighters and refugees from Bangladesh in 1971.
Laying emphasis on regional cooperation, the premier said that Nepal, Bhutan, and India’s northeastern states can use the Chittagong air and sea ports, as well as Syedpur airports for mutual benefits.
On his part, Daimary called his trip to Bangladesh fruitful, adding that the people of Assam will be benefited from cooperation from the neighboring country.
He said said Assam wants Bangladeshi experts’ cooperation in the agriculture sector as the country has huge experience in this regard.
The delegation also stressed the need for strengthening people-to-people contact as well as trade and commerce in the region.
IG BSF also stated that the criminals exist on both sides of border and that their nefarious designs can be thwarted only when BSF and BGB work in tandem at every level…reports Asian Lite News
India and Bangladesh border guarding forces on Tuesday agreed on various issues among conflict resolving mechanisms and effective implementation of border management in the 18th Inspectors General Border Coordination Conference.
Both Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also signed a Joint Records of Discussion after the conclusion of the conference in a cordial gesture earlier in the day in West Bengal’s Kolkata.
The 11-member BGB delegation was led by Brigadier General ABM Nowroj Ehsan, Additional Director General, Region Commander, North West Region, Rangpur. The BGB delegation consists of KM Azad, Additional Director General, Region Commander, SW Region, Jashore and other nine delegates.
The 11-member BSF delegation was led by Atul Fulzele, Inspector General, BSF, South Bengal frontier. The BSF delegation consists of Ajay Singh, IG, BSF, North Bengal frontier, Kamaljit Singh Banyal, IG, BSF, Guwahati frontier and other eight delegates.
Noting that both the border guarding forces are deployed on the most complex and dynamic Indo-Bangladesh border, Fulzele expressed his gratitude to BGB and the government of Bangladesh for their cooperation in solving various important issues of border management.
The leader of the BSF delegation further stated that considering the complex and dynamic nature of the Indo-Bangladesh Border, the BSF and BGB play a pivotal role in complementing each other’s efforts in the effective implementation of border management on respective side.
The officer further stated that special warmth in relations and positive changes in conflict-resolving mechanism of both forces is very encouraging. He assured that BSF intends to take this spirit further through this meeting to the field level in order to resolve ground-level problems much easier.
IG BSF also stated that the criminals exist on both sides of border and that their nefarious designs can be thwarted only when BSF and BGB work in tandem at every level.
For this, BSF assures the best co-operation at all times, said the officer, expressing his confidence in BGB for having a similar approach.
He further stated that “Co-ordinated Border Management Plan” (CBMP) is an instrument that has been developed by both the forces for effective border management.
“The responsibility of its implementation in its true spirit is on the shoulders of both the forces who are working in the field,” said the officer.
The leader of BSF delegation further conveyed his firm belief that this meeting will further take the relation of both forces to a higher pedestal.
The leader of the BGB delegation, Brigadier General ABM Nowroj Ehsan thanked IG BSF for a warm reception and generous hospitality extended to the BGB delegation, stating that both the border guarding forces are entrusted with the sacred responsibility of maintaining peace and tranquility along the border.
He expressed his firm belief that a friendly exchange of ideas, cooperation, coordination and mutual support would reduce the gaps in the understanding and enable both forces to resolve various border issues in the right perspective.
“Besides, such interactions would strengthen the bondage between the two countries for achieving a common goal,” added the Officer. (ANI)
Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown in the last five years. It is now touching almost $2 billion….reports Asian Lite News
The proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between New Delhi and Dhaka has the potential for a new institutional framework and supply chain linkage thereby enhancing bilateral trade and investment, India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma said. Verma who met business leaders in Dhaka also underlined the need to expand connectivity between the two neighbours.
Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown in the last five years. It is now touching almost $2 billion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina have pressed the pedal on deepening economic ties, trade and connectivity between the two nations to deal with the rising geopolitical challenges. Both sides are also working to complete negotiations related to CEPA at a time when Bangladesh is gearing up to exit the list of least developed nations (LDC).
“It is important for both countries that share the world’s fifth largest land border to march ahead together,” Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, retired Air Force Officer in Bangladesh, who is now a geopolitical analyst, told India Narrative.
Despite being closely linked, South Asia as a region is one of the least connected. “In South Asia, transport and trade challenges mean that it is about 15-20 per cent less expensive for an Indian company to trade with a counterpart in Brazil or Germany than in Bangladesh. Improved connectivity can reduce trading costs, lead to greater economic growth, and reduce poverty in South Asia,” Cecile Fruman, World Bank Director, Regional Integration and Engagement, South Asia in an interview said.
There was exchange of fire between law enforcement forces and Rohingya drug dealers at the zero line of the Tumbru border in Bandarban on Monday evening…reports Asian Lite News
An Bangladesh Air Force officer, working at the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), was killed in a gunfight with drug traffickers along the Myanmar border in Bandarban’s Naikkhyangchhari, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said on Tuesday.
RAB constable Sohail Barua, who was injured in the firing, has been admitted to the Neurosurgery Department of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital DMCH and has already undergone head surgery, he added.
According to the minister, there was exchange of fire between law enforcement forces and Rohingya drug dealers at the zero line of the Tumbru border in Bandarban on Monday evening.
In response to the questions of journalists here, Kamal said: “The anti-narcotics operation was being conducted based on the information of the intelligence agencies. An officer was accidentally shot dead there. We are working on how he was shot and which drug dealers shot him. We will reveal the truth of this incident later.”
Asaduzzaman Khan
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported that an armed forces officer was killed and a RAB member was injured in a clash with “smugglers” at the Konarpara Line of Control on the Tumbru border in Naikhangchari hill area on Monday evening.
The incident occurred around 6.30 p.m., said Dil Mohammad Bhutto, a leader (Majhi) of the camp of the local Ghumdhum union council, and Ariful Islam, a community leader of the Rohingya camp set up on land between the borders of the two countries. Dil Mohammad said he heard several people were injured in the shootout.
Mohammad Ashikur Rahman, te resident medical officer of Cox’s Bazar General Hospital, said Barua, 30, of RAB-15 in the district was brought to the hospital around 9.45 p.m. with critical injuries, including head injuries, and was to be transferred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) or the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka for advanced treatment if his bleeding did not stop.
Police and RAB officials at the hospital declined to comment.
Hasina assured to work for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Asia
The cabinet directives include relaxation of taxes on food imports, augmenting food production domestically and sending more skilled manpower abroad…reports Asian Lite News
Amid an ongoing economic crisis, the Bangladesh cabinet has issued half a dozen directives for the country to navigate through the domestic and external challenges posing serious threats to the macroeconomic stability next year.
After a cabinet meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told journalists that the directives include on relaxation of taxes on food imports, augmenting food production domestically and sending more skilled manpower abroad, reports Xinhua news agency.
The meeting instructed relevant authorities to ensure more inflow of foreign direct investment as well as remittances.
Maintaining adequate food storage ahead of 2023 was the other very important directive from the cabinet meeting, said Anwarul Islam.
After reviewing the international situation, according to the official, the cabinet said that 2023 is very likely to be a critical year because of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, the Russia-Ukraine war and the slump in food production in parts of the world.
The directives came amid the ongoing economic crisis when Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell below $35 billion, weighed by higher import bills and the Bangladeshi taka’s weakness driven by the USD’s surge in recent months.
On Monday, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Abul Kalam Azad said that the demand and supply of foreign currencies will see a balanced condition by February next year hopefully.
A day earlier, the bank brushed aside “conspiratorial” social media posts inducing people to draw their deposits from banks, saying there is no liquidity crisis in banks and deposits are completely safe.
Amid efforts to bolster its foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $34.3 billion last week, Bangladesh is seeking $2 billion from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Bangladesh that paves the way for the release of the much-awaited $4.5 billion in loan support.
The World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, who concluded his visit to Bangladesh on Sunday, reaffirmed the bank’s continued support to help the country navigate through the current economic challenges and achieve resilient and inclusive growth.
“We’re ready to lend our full support to these efforts at this challenging time,” he said.
Padma Bridge (Photo Twitter@RussEmbDhaka)
Beautification of Dhaka
Meanwhile, the World Bank will grant a loan to Bangladesh for a project to beautify Dhaka, one of the most congested cities in the world.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists on Sunday that the project named ‘Beautification of Dhaka’ will be implemented in several phases.
Currently, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Martin Raiser is on a three-day visit to Dhaka during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other government high-ups.
He is also supposed to inspect some projects being implemented with World Bank funding.
Kamal’s announcement came following his meeting with Raiser which was also attended by Finance secretary Fatima Yasmin, Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Sharifa Khan, incoming World Bank country director of Bangladesh and Bhutan Abdoulaye Seck, regional director Guangzhe Chen and outgoing country director Mercy Tembon.
The Finance Minister said that the “rivers around Dhaka would be freed from illegal grabbers and the city would be made livable” with the help of the World Bank grant. (with inputs from Sumi Khan)
Central bank dismisses liquidity crisis rumour
The central bank of Bangladesh has dismissed “conspiratorial” social media posts inducing people to draw their deposits from banks.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) said there is no liquidity crisis in banks and deposits are completely safe, reports Xinhua news agency.
BB spokeswoman Sayeda Khanam said in a statement on Sunday that “conspiratorial information was being disseminated on various social media provoking people to withdraw their deposits from banks”.
She said the banking system of Bangladesh is in a strong position.
“There is no liquidity crisis in the banking system,” she noted in the statement.
“No bank in the country was shut in 51 years since Bangladesh’s independence. Hopefully, no bank in Bangladesh will be closed down in the coming days. People’s deposits in banks are completely safe,” said the BB spokeswoman.
Amid efforts to bolster its foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $34.3 billion, Bangladesh is seeking $2 billion from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
On November 9, the International Monetary Fund confirmed that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Bangladesh that paves the way for the release of the much-awaited $4.5 billion in loan support.
The Finance Minister said that the “rivers around Dhaka would be freed from illegal grabbers and the city would be made livable” with the help of the World Bank grant….reports Asian Lite News
The World Bank will grant a loan to Bangladesh for a project to beautify Dhaka, one of the most congested cities in the world.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists on Sunday that the project named ‘Beautification of Dhaka’ will be implemented in several phases.
Currently, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Martin Raiser is on a three-day visit to Dhaka during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other government high-ups.
He is also supposed to inspect some projects being implemented with World Bank funding.
Kamal’s announcement came following his meeting with Raiser which was also attended by Finance secretary Fatima Yasmin, Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Sharifa Khan, incoming World Bank country director of Bangladesh and Bhutan Abdoulaye Seck, regional director Guangzhe Chen and outgoing country director Mercy Tembon.
The Finance Minister said that the “rivers around Dhaka would be freed from illegal grabbers and the city would be made livable” with the help of the World Bank grant.
Bangladesh had sought the loan during the annual meeting of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) held in Washington last month.
With a population of over 22 million, Dhaka is one of the most congested cities in the world.
The rivers surrounding Dhaka are being polluted by the discharge of untreated industrial effluent, urban wastewater, agrochemicals, sewage water, storm runoff, solid waste dumping, oil spillage, sedimentation, and also encroachment.
The dyeing factories and tanneries are the main polluters. As a matter of fact, rivers have become a dumping ground for all kinds of solid, liquid, and other chemical waste.
Encroachment on rivers is a common practice in Bangladesh. Most of the natural drainages of Dhaka City disappeared or are in the way due to illegal encroachment.
Besides, in Dhaka contamination of water is occurring from human excreta as well, as 70 per cent of the population of the city does not have access to improved sanitation facilities.
People living near the rivers, having no other alternative, are forced to use polluted river water. Some also use the water because they are unaware of the health risks. This causes the spread of waterborne and skin diseases.
Solid waste and different effluents dumped into the rivers make it difficult for fish and other sub-aquatic organisms to live.
