Billions down the drain, yet Dhaka’s rivers are still dying

At around 3:30pm, beneath Babubazar Bridge, Nurjahan Khatun sat beside the murky Buriganga River, waiting for customers at her makeshift food stall in Sadarghat. She has been selling simple lunches of rice, curry and bharta here for more than a decade.

As she handed a plate of rice to one of her few customers, a pungent mix of rotting waste, sewage, and urine drifted from a drain discharging dark wastewater just a few metres away.

The odour was so intense that eating there required a conscious effort. Behind her, plastic waste floated near the bank as passenger launches cut through the slow, polluted current.

"It was not like this before," recalled Nurjahan, who moved to Dhaka from Bhola after her marriage in the late 1980s and has spent nearly four decades living by the river.

She reminisced about evenings when people gathered by the water, launches crowded the ghats, and fishermen brought in their catch. Today, she says, customers rarely linger, finishing their meals quickly to escape the stench. "The smell gets worse in winter," she added. "People just come here to do their work."

The blackened water behind her offers little sign that this was once the lifeline of Dhaka. Yet this environmental crisis extends far beyond a single river. 

At Gabtoli, the Turag no longer resembles the waterway older residents remember.

On a recent afternoon, a faint sewage smell hung over dark water flowing past the embankment. Near the shoreline, dozens of dead sucker fish — an invasive species associated with polluted waterways — floated alongside plastic bottles and household waste.

Local fishermen say native species have grown increasingly scarce, while sucker fish are now a common sight as wastewater from nearby drains pours into the river.

A river system under siege

Across the waterways surrounding Dhaka, pollution continues to flow into rivers faster than restoration efforts can reverse the damage. 

Over the past two decades, successive governments have spent billions of taka trying to restore the rivers surrounding the capital through tannery relocation projects, dredging operations, anti-encroachment drives, riverfront developments, and multiple restoration schemes. 

However, nearly a decade after the relocation of the Hazaribagh tanneries and more than 20 years after the first major clean-up initiatives, the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleshwari, Balu, and Shitalakkhya remain heavily polluted.

Savar is now affected by the same pollution that devastated the Buriganga before the tannery relocation.

The six major rivers surrounding Dhaka form part of a complex, interconnected hydrological network where pollution in one river easily affects the others. Supporting business, transportation, fisheries, agriculture, and urban ecosystems, these waterways have increasingly become receptacles for the city's immense waste. 

At the centre of this system lies the Dhaleshwari, which receives water from the Bangshi and later merges with the Shitalakkhya. The Bangshi flows south from the Madhupur Tract and feeds the Dhaleshwari near Savar, while the Turag branches from the Bangshi system and flows into the Buriganga at Kamrangirchar. 

The Buriganga itself originates from the Dhaleshwari near Kalatia. The Balu connects the eastern rivers through canals and joins the Shitalakkhya near Demra, creating a continuous river corridor around Dhaka through which water and pollution travel across the entire basin.

Environmental studies estimate that more than a billion litres of wastewater are generated in and around Dhaka every day. Because sewerage coverage remains limited and treatment capacity is inadequate, much of that wastewater ultimately enters surrounding rivers. 

Md Enayet Hossain, an associate professor in the Department of Soil, Water, and Environment at the University of Dhaka, told The Business Standard that the results become particularly visible during the dry season, when river flows decrease and pollutants become concentrated. 

He identified untreated domestic sewage, industrial effluents, waste dumps, and discharge from water vehicles as the primary pollution sources, noting that textile, pharmaceutical, printing, chemical, and tannery industries are responsible for most of the damage.

A January 2025 study by the River and Delta Research Centre (RDRC) revealed that pollution sources around Dhaka's rivers have surged from 608 to 1,024 — a 68% rise in five years. 

The findings identified 102 industrial waste outlets discharging untreated pollutants into the waterways, along with 75 municipal sewerage lines and 216 small private sewerage outlets discharging domestic and industrial waste. 

Most factories either lack proper waste management systems or fail to run an effluent treatment plant (ETP) effectively.

The Buriganga's pollution has never been more apparent; according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it ranks among the world's most polluted rivers, with more than 60,000 cubic metres of toxic waste dumped into its waters every day.

A further 2024 RDRC study, titled "Pollution Status of Dhaka Rivers", found 251 pipelines discharging raw sewage directly into the river over a six-kilometre stretch from Kamrangirchar to Farashganj Bridge, accounting for more than 40% of the pollution in one of Bangladesh's most contaminated waterways. 

Sewage and stormwater from New Market, Azimpur, Lalbagh, Chawkbazar, Bangsal, Kaptan Bazar, Lakshmibazar, and parts of Old Dhaka drain into the Buriganga, while privately owned culverts also release sewage from nearby residential areas.

"Over the past two decades, billions of taka have been spent on river restoration projects, including dredging, riverfront development, boundary pillars, anti-encroachment drives and the relocation of polluting industries. Some physical restoration has taken place, but the rivers have not been biologically restored. In the Buriganga alone, we identified around 100 drains discharging untreated sewage directly into the river along the 25-kilometre stretch between Postogola and Dharmaganj."  Sheikh Rokon, Secretary General, Riverine People 

Former RDRC Chairman Mohammad Azaz suggested in 2024 that these pipelines could be diverted to the Pagla Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) through a small-scale project costing only Tk25–30 crore. He also proposed establishing small to medium-sized STPs at various locations to manage raw sewage from these connections. 

When TBS reached out to Dhaka Wasa Deputy Managing Director for Research, Planning and Development, Md Azizul Haque, to inquire about sewage lines and water treatment, he refused to comment. "I cannot provide you with such information," he said, suggesting instead that a written inquiry be sent to the managing director. No response was received from the office despite emails and repeated phone calls.

Further studies paint a bleak picture of ecological collapse. A 2023 Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) study, published in the Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin, examined water quality in the Buriganga and Turag. Researchers found biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels ranging from 112 to 165 milligrams per litre in the Turag and from 75 to 174 in the Buriganga.

Both ranges are far above thresholds compatible with healthy aquatic life. High BOD indicates large amounts of organic matter decomposing and consuming oxygen, starving fish and causing aquatic ecosystems to collapse.

A 2024 study in the Bangladesh Journal of Botany examined industrial effluents in the Buriganga and its tributaries. Researchers found significant contamination around Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh, detecting heavy metals including chromium, cadmium, iron, and zinc in water, soil, and plant samples. Such findings challenge a central assumption behind the Hazaribagh tannery relocation: the tanneries may have moved, but the pollution did not disappear.

Instead, experts argue that contamination has spread across a wider river network. The Buriganga's pollution character changed after the relocation, but untreated sewage still enters the river, while industrial belts in Savar, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, and Narayanganj generate enormous volumes of wastewater that reach surrounding waterways.

The Buriganga's pollution has never been more apparent.

The tannery relocation paradox

A much bigger paradox lies with the relocation of the tannery industry from Hazaribagh to Savar's Hemayetpur, on the very bank of the Dhaleshwari River. Investigations revealed that the industry has constructed at least four large sewage lines directly connected to the main river flow. 

Every day, the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate (STIE) discharges more than 15,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater, while the central effluent treatment plant (CETP) remains only partially operational despite more than Tk500 crore spent since the infrastructure was built.

Beyond tanneries, the textile and dyeing industries are the biggest polluters along this 160-kilometre-long river. Around 400 industries linked to ready-made garments operate in the Savar-Ashulia belt. 

Savar is now affected by the same pollution that devastated the Buriganga before the tannery relocation.

Mashura Shammi, a professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences at Jahangirnagar University, noted that almost all of these industries have taken root over the past decades as major industrial clusters along the banks of the Dhaleshwari and Karnatali. 

She added that most factories either lack proper waste management systems or fail to run an effluent treatment plant (ETP) effectively, stressing that they urgently need to establish ETPs to stop the ongoing devastation.

Under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 and the Environment Conservation Rules 1997, industries generating liquid waste are required to install and operate ETPs and obtain environmental clearance from the Department of Environment (DoE) before initiating operations. 

Failure to treat industrial wastewater before discharge constitutes a violation of environmental regulations. "Though in reality, the act remains a myth for these industries," Shammi said. "They somehow used illegal means and ran production, ultimately devastating rivers, canals and water bodies year after year. Who else can stop them?"

In 2025, the DoE issued final notices to at least 390 industries across the belt, warning that factories discharging liquid waste must keep their ETPs operational at all times, even though more than 90% have no such infrastructure. 

Today, the water and biodiversity of the Dhaleshwari and its major tributary, the Bangshi, have been devastated by the rise of these industries. The river, once a lifeline for farming and fishing communities at Savar, is now choked with the same pollution that devastated the Buriganga before the tannery relocation.

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences revealed alarming levels of heavy metals and microbial contamination in the Dhaleshwari. It found pathogenic organisms, including E coli at 150 colony-forming units (CFU) per millilitre — far above the WHO-recommended limit of zero CFU. 

Researchers also detected lead concentrations of up to 0.07 milligrams per litre, nearly five times higher than the WHO's permissible limit of 0.015 milligrams per litre.

The Turag River illustrates the same reality. Flowing through major industrial zones in Gazipur and northern Dhaka, it receives wastewater from textile mills, dyeing factories, washing plants, and other manufacturing facilities. 

A recent assessment near these industrial areas found elevated BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and turbidity levels, indicating severe contamination that requires continuous monitoring and stricter controls. 

A further assessment near Gabtoli identified industrial discharge, municipal sewage, domestic waste, agricultural runoff, and oil dumping as major contributors to the river's declining health, threatening both aquatic ecosystems and nearby communities.

The billions spent trying to save the rivers

The condition of Dhaka's rivers cannot be explained by a lack of government intervention. Over the past two decades, authorities have launched project after project to restore the waterways. In 2000, the Bangladesh Water Development Board undertook a Tk61 crore project to develop the Buriganga and its river ports. 

Three years later, the government launched the relocation of the Hazaribagh tannery estate to Savar at a cost exceeding Tk1,000 crore. While presented as a landmark environmental intervention to reduce pollution in the Buriganga, environmental experts later argued that it addressed only a small portion of the river's overall pollution burden.

Several other initiatives followed. In 2006, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) launched a Tk35 crore project to protect the Buriganga from encroachment through river demarcation and the construction of an eco-park. 

Around 300 boundary pillars were installed, though critics later argued many were placed without sufficient consideration of river flow and floodplain dynamics. 

In 2010, the Water Development Board launched the Buriganga River Restoration Project worth Tk944 crore, which included dredging operations and plans to bring cleaner water from the Jamuna River into the Buriganga. However, implementation delays and funding problems prevented many objectives from being fully realised. 

A separate BIWTA project worth Tk21 crore sought to remove solid waste from the Buriganga and Turag rivers, but continued waste dumping quickly undermined the effort.

More recently, authorities invested heavily in riverfront infrastructure. In 2019, BIWTA launched a Tk848 crore project to construct walkways and jetties along the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Shitalakkhya rivers. While sections were completed, some areas later became vulnerable to fresh encroachment and landfilling. 

Across the waterways surrounding Dhaka, pollution continues to flow into rivers faster than restoration efforts. 

Looking back, a common pattern emerges: many projects focused on dredging, relocation, beautification, or demarcation, while far fewer succeeded in addressing the core problem of continuous, untreated sewage and industrial waste discharge.

"Over the past two decades, billions of taka have been spent on river restoration projects, including dredging, riverfront development, boundary pillars, anti-encroachment drives and the relocation of polluting industries," Sheikh Rokon, secretary general of Riverine People, told The Business Standard. 

"Some physical restoration has taken place, but the rivers have not been biologically restored. The government claims that parts of the Buriganga have been recovered, but our research found that significant sections remain encroached upon, while pollution continues to enter the river every day," he added.

Rokon added that in the Buriganga alone, his organisation identified around 100 drains discharging untreated sewage directly into the river along the 25-kilometre stretch between Postogola and Dharmaganj. 

Of these, 47 have sluice gates but no treatment facilities, while 53 release wastewater completely unchecked. "Industrial pollution remains an even bigger threat," he stressed. "As long as untreated industrial effluents and sewage continue flowing into the rivers, no amount of beautification, walkways or restoration projects will bring them back to life."

A new attempt to break the cycle

Despite the disappointing record of earlier initiatives, policymakers argue that a new generation of projects could produce different results. In February 2026, the World Bank approved a $370 million financing package under the Metro Dhaka Water Security and Resilience Programme. The initiative aims to improve sanitation, strengthen waste management, and reduce pollution in rivers and canals throughout metropolitan Dhaka.

More than 550,000 people are expected to receive safely managed sanitation services, while 500,000 are projected to benefit from improved solid waste management. 

The programme will also strengthen pollution monitoring, develop a water quality index, and prepare integrated restoration plans for the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Shitalakkhya rivers. 

According to the World Bank, more than 80% of Dhaka's untreated wastewater currently ends up in waterways, while over half of the city's canals have disappeared or become clogged.

The initiative is also linked to a broader vision. The government's proposed Blue Network Programme seeks to restore rivers, canals, and drainage channels throughout Greater Dhaka as part of a long-term effort extending to 2040. 

Supported by international financing, the programme aims to reconnect waterways, improve flood control, strengthen sanitation services, and restore ecological functions across the metropolitan region. 

Officials estimate that the wider initiative could eventually involve investments worth $8.5 billion, making it one of the most ambitious urban water management programmes ever attempted in Bangladesh.

Unlike earlier interventions focused primarily on dredging or beautification, the new approach emphasises wastewater management and institutional reform. Planned activities include canal restoration, improved waste collection, sewage treatment rehabilitation, pollution monitoring and encroachment removal.

Whether these efforts succeed where previous projects struggled may determine the future of Dhaka's waterways.

Nearly every major river surrounding Dhaka has become a repository for the city's waste. The Buriganga was once the lifeline of the capital. Today, the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya show that the health of Dhaka remains inseparable from the health of its rivers.

The tragedy is not merely that these rivers are polluted. It is that despite decades of warnings, scientific studies and billions of taka in public investment, the same fundamental problems continue to flow through them every day.