Flying over Bangladesh, one can only be awed by the immense waters below, especially in the rainy season. Even in drier months, only stretches of land protrude from the water. In Bangladesh, water is everywhere – approximately 7,000 rivers and at least 10 times that number of ponds and manmade lakes and water bodies, called “pukurs.”

WATERS OF BANGLADESH –
FONTS OF LIFE, VESSELS OF DEATH

Rivers are the glory of the country – their beauty and attraction the dream of poets and lovers. Rabindranath Tagore, in The Golden Boat, metaphorically describes rivers as the pathway to God, the Eternal Boatman! Yet, rivers are also Bangladesh’s sorrow. Our other national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, speaks of life as the endless “breaking of the banks.” The rivers play with us, he suggests! While they are a source of life, they are also a cause of death and can destroy the environment of a country.



Water is the lifeblood of Bangladesh, yet the bane of its existence.

It is not surprising then that water is central to many of the country’s environmental issues. A key problem is the rivers themselves. The Society for Environment and Human Development notes, “The most influential single natural phenomenon (impacting) Bangladesh’s culture, economy, and politics is the river system.” But the rivers are now more polluted than ever before. Floods and the attendant erosion of the banks have caused river water to become unclean, unfit for drinking and cooking. In the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna, rivers have been contaminated by oil spills and industrial waste.
In Dhaka alone, 277 leather tannery units poison the waters. A large percentage of inland ponds and “pukurs” are filled with polluted or stagnant water that carries diseases like cholera and typhoid. Even our underground water frequently contains toxic sediments. Of immense concern is the arsenic contamination of our underground aquifers.
It is estimated that as many as 35 million Bangladeshis are drinking from arsenic-laced wells – a situation the World Health Organization describes as “the largest mass poisoning of a population in history.” Salinity and waterlogging are other waterrelated environmental issues. The great Sundarbans mangrove forest in the south is slowly, but irretrievably dying, mainly due to increased salinity and siltation. In the lowlands and marshy areas, waterlogging creates stagnancy and decay. Bangladesh is fortunate to have many nongovernmental organizations working on waterrelated issues. Some of the most significant are Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), a coalition of pro-environmental forces in Bangladesh; the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association; the Society for Environment and Human Development; and the NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, which is working on practical, low-cost solutions to arsenic contamination.
In December 2002, BAPA sponsored the Second International Conference on Bangladesh Environment at which water issues were a primary focus.

Generally, the Catholic Church has not been directly involved in Bangladesh’s environmental issues. However, several members of Holy Cross – including Fathers Richard Timm, Jean Homrich, Alex Rabanal, and myself – actively promote environmental awareness through our parish centers and organizations.
It is our hope that the Holy Cross family in Bangladesh will increase its ecological concern and become more actively engaged in saving our environment.

by Brother Jarlath D’Souza, Secretary BICPAJ, CSC

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Born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Brother Jarlath D’Souza joined the Brothers of Holy Cross in 1947 and spent 35 years of his life as a teacher and high school principal.
He is the Secretary of our 25-year-old Organisation, which he helped found. In that capacity, Brother Jarlath D’Souza writes and lectures on peace and human rights and is active in interfaith dialogue.




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