Dredging, for what purpose?

Lifted mud left at the same spot; work stopped after month-long futile exercise

It was a sight to behold for the last one odd month. Two dredgers of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) were dredging the Lohalia river in Patuakhali, but inexplicably disposing the sucked sand and mud barely 200 metres away in the same river.

It was an exercise to 'ensure' navigability for water transport of Patuakhali-Dhaka route during dry season. Dredging however stopped for the last few days following instructions from the higher authorities.

“Finding no place, we disposed sand into the river. But we have stopped dredging following instruction from the higher authority,” said site engineer Hasanur Rahman Ripon.

“We have stopped dredging and are looking for sites to dispose lifted sand,” he said, adding that farmers do not allow them to dump sand on farmlands along the river banks. 

“We allow disposal of sand on river banks to keep launch service active on emergency basis,” said Masud Rana, sub-assistant engineer of dredging department of BIWTA.

He said they need to dredge different points of the Lohalia river every year due to continuous silting that causes navigability crisis.

“This year we have estimated to cut about 2 lakh cubic metres of sand at a cost of Tk 3 crore,” he said.

But commuters along the route say navigability crisis, which turned acute during low tide, remained the same.

“Like every year dredging started in Patuakhali launch ghat area in December. But the situation has not improved for heavy water vehicles including double-decker passenger launch that got stuck due to poor navigability at minimum 10 points for hours every night on the route,” said launch operator Salam (not his real name). 

Depth of the riverbed at those points turns as low as four cubits (around six feet) during low tide, making navigation impossible, he said, adding that Kobai, Karkhana, Lohalia, Laukathi and Sahakathi on the Lohalia river are the worst affected points.

“Dhaka-bound passenger launches from Patuakhali get stuck at different points during low tide due to poor navigability for about two to five hours every night. These launches leave the place for Dhaka during high tide, said Md Eunus, supervisor of Sundarban-9.

“Normally it takes maximum 10 hours to go to Dhaka from Patuakhali, but now we need two to five hours more. The authorities concerned arrange dredging the river every year but we aren't getting its benefits,” he said.

Three double-decker launches start for Dhaka from Patuakhali launch ghat at about 5:00pm every day.

Jamal Hossain, a first-class sareng (master), said he often has to anchor on mid-river at different points during low tide.

“We submitted a petition to the authority last October urging them to dredge at 10 important points stretching over 8.50 km of the route so that plying of launches is not hampered,” said Bahadur Hawlader, master of MV Asa-jawa, a double-decker launch using the route.

“Although two dredgers are working in Lohalia river mouth and Karkhanar areas separately for a month, we don't get any benefit as the sand is left in the same riverbed,” he added.

“It's a sheer wastage of money,” said advocate Tariquzzaman Moni, chairman of Patuakhali Sadar Upazila Parishad.

Kabir Hossain Talukder, chairman of Lohalia Union Parishad under Sadar upazila, said he would have helped BIWTA authorities to find suitable spots for leaving sand if he had been informed.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star /Jan 16, 2019