Major rivers in Sylhet dying for siltation
Victim of massive siltation, Surma River at Kazir Bazar near Sylhet town can hardly be recognised as a major water flow during this dry season. Photo: STAR
Major rivers and their tributaries in greater Sylhet region see gradual decrease in their flow due to massive siltation in absence of planned dredging, causing a serious threat to the environment in the region. Hundreds of shoals have emerged in Surma, Kushiyara, Khowai, Dholai, Monu, Kalni and Piain rivers and their tributaries as their flow reduced drastically, said experts and officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). Most of the rivers flowing through Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts have virtually turned into narrow streams. Barak River in India bifurcates into two flows and enters Bangladesh as Surma and Kushiyara at Amolshid in Jakiganj of Sylhet. The Surma is being silted up at its starting point across the border, BWDB officials said. It gets only 20 percent while the Kushiayara gets 80 percent of the poor water flow, said Prof Zahir Bin Alam of civil and environmental engineering department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. In 2005, officials of Bangladesh and Indian state of Assam at several regional level meetings had agreed to implement a joint programme for dredging the Surma in Sylhet and the Barak in Assam to increase their flow. But the work is yet to start, BWDB officials said. In absence of planned dredging, the other rivers and streams of the region are also facing the same fate while organised groups are engaged in illegal extraction of sand from the water bodies, causing harm to them. "It is not possible for us to take any dredging project locally. The plan will have to be taken at the central level as dredging is very expensive," said Shafiqul Islam, BWDB executive engineer in Sylhet. "The underground water level also sees gradual falling in the region. If the situation continues, a desertification process will begin in the north-eastern region," he said. Against this backdrop, India's plan to construct the proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River for implementing a hydro-electric project in Manipur state has become a cause of concern for the people of Sylhet region.
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