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Most of the rivers in south-western Bangladesh are going to silt up and a few of them have already dried up in the last few years mainly due to the unilateral regulation of the Ganges (Padma) water by upper riparian India.
   Unauthorised encroachment and construction of infrastructures like roads, culverts and bridges along and over the rivers also hinder the free-flow of water resulting in the accumulation of silt in the riverbeds, experts said.
   Silting up of the rivers has reduced the inland waterway, which shrank to 7,000 kilometres from about 24,000 kilometres after the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage; it further shrank to some 3,000 kilometres in recent years due to intervention in the common river systems by India.
   The rivers now have very lean flows during the dry season that make them practically useless or difficult for navigation or for irrigation of the agricultural hinterlands and in the wet season, the heavily silted river beds frequently produce devastating floods.
   With the recession of water flow, saline water intrudes into the south-western rivers posing threats to the overall ecology, agriculture, forestry, fishery and the source of drinking water.
   According to the Water Development Board, at least 20 rivers in south-western Bangladesh are going to silt up while four have already dried up and the riverbeds are under cultivation. The dried up rivers are Moravola in Bagerhat, Bhadra and Hamkura in Dumuria and Haria in Paikgachha.
   Experts said silting up of the rivers occurs due to the effect of the Farakka Barrage, located on the Ganges at the midpoint of Rajmahal and Bhagabangola of Murshidabad in West Bengal, 18 kilometres upstream from the India-Bangladesh border, and for intervention in the common river systems by India.
   Bangladesh has 54 common rivers with India and 80 per cent of the country’s surface water comes through two international rivers — the Padma and the Jamuna (Brahmaputra) — that originated from the Himalayas and pass through Nepal, Bhutan and India.
   As India withdraws water of the Ganges (the Padma in Bangladesh) almost nine months a year, upstream water cannot come. As a result, the downstream saline water rushes upward carrying huge silt, resulting in the gradual accumulation of silt in the Padma and its tributaries and distributaries.
   The water board sources said the Padma has along with its tributaries – the Bhairab, Mathabhanga and the Garai-Madhumati — and distributaries have created a crisscross network over the region.
   The important branches of the three tributaries are Ichhamati, Kalindi, Hariabhanga, Raimangol, Kobadak, Dholpetua, Arpangasia etc of the Bhairab; Churni, Chitra, Nabaganga, Kumar etc of the Mathabhanga; and Kaliganga, Baleshwar, Haringhata, Rupsa (Kagibachha), Pashur, Bhola etc of the Gorai-Modhumoti.
   It’s also informed that the Padma and its tributaries were once the source of drinking water and helped sustain agriculture, forestry and fishery. The upstream flow prevented intrusion of saline water and played a dominant role in the maintenance of ecology of about one third part of the country, mainly the Padma-Ganges dependent districts.
   The districts are Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Magura, Narail, Jessore, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Khulna, Faridpur, Rajbari, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Barisal and Jhalakati.
   According to the experts, the equilibrium of morphology and sediment transport parameters of alluvial rivers is highly dependent on the distribution of water discharge and sediment load.
   As India diverts Ganges water in the upstream, the natural water regime and sediment movement are disturbed and as a result, changes in terms of geometry, shifting of platform and rise of shoals are observed in the downstream reaches, the experts added.
   They said that due to very lean flow in the Padma during the dry season, the Garai, which controls salinity in the south-eastern region, is gradually silting up at the off take resulting in many adverse effects, including the intrusion of saline water.
   Once the Madhumati alone carried a huge quantity of the Ganges water to the sea and other main rivers served as lines of drainage to carry off the water; but now, the riverbeds have also silted up.
   ‘When India releases the Ganges water in a large quantity, the silted up riverbeds fail to drain it to the sea causing floods in the adjoining areas,’ commented specialists.
   The Bhairab, one of the most important rivers in the region, consists of two sections — the upper Bhairab and the lower Bhairab. The lower Bhairab once formed the great central stream of greater Jessore, but it has been deteriorating sharply due to the silting up of its bed and has entirely silted up from Taherpur (Chougacha) to Jessore.
   Betna, a branch of the Bhairab, has ceased to be a running stream and its bed is drying up. The Chitra and Nabaganga in Narail have become very narrow, non-navigable and are now known as dead rivers. A lion’s part of the Kobadak has also been dried up,’ added the specialists.
   Dr Dilip Kumar Dutta, an associate professor of the environmental science department of the Khulna University told New Age that frequent encroachment and construction of roads, culverts and bridges along and over the rivers also hinder the free-flow of the south-western rivers and play an important role in drying up of the rivers.
   ‘Drying up has already changed the geo-morphological scenario of the region and the dried up riverbeds have elevated. Consequently, the water-bodies are failing to flash out the rainwater. Eventually, floods are occurring in the region in the recent years mainly during the rainy season,’ he added.
   The water board sources also said that a large part of the zone is facing flood at least once a year for the last four years as an impact of the silting up of rivers.
   Besides, the silting and drying up are resulting in adverse effect on the water management system contributing to the change of bio-diversity; hence, different species of birds, fishes and trees have almost disappeared from the region.
   The people of the areas said fishes like pabda, chitra, pomfret and vola, birds like kite, pankouri and gangshalik and trees like geoa and keora and golpata have become almost extinct.
   The drying up of the rivers has also changed the lifestyle of the people. Many people have changed their professions and others have migrated to other places for livelihood.
   According to the locals, people of different professions like fishing, ferrying and boat-making have lost their jobs due to the drying up of the rivers becoming day labourers, rickshaw-van pullers. On the other hand many have migrated to urban areas in search of employment.
   Various local sources said about 10,000 fishermen and 2,000 boatmen who lived alongside the dried up rivers have lost their work and have moved to different professions.
   The people of these areas who used the waterway as a means of transportation all through the year now use rickshaw, van and engine-run vehicles, locally known as nasimon, karimon or parimon, during the dry seasons. Relevant to mention that, the engine-run vehicles are unauthorised. But during the rainy season, their sufferings reach the top as the roads become muddy.
   Most of the markets on the banks of the dried up rivers, which drew huge crowds, have been closed, while some are running just in name. The people dependent on the markets have also changed their professions.
   The drying up has also put a negative impact on the cultural arena and programmes of folksongs (jatra, jarigan, sarigan, bhatiali), which were once very popular in the region and were held almost regularly during September to November period and in March and April, are now suspended.
   Boat racing, a very popular event of entertainment for the rural people particularly during the rainy season, is hardly seen while different types of boats like tabure, podi, sharir, bali, sampan, golpata and dingi are literally lost.
   A section of influential people are in competition to grab the lands of the silted up riverbeds and in some cases, these lands are being sold to the landless people.
   Some influential people have also constructed permanent structures on the dried up riverbeds and clashes related to occupation of land areas have become regular events.
   Commenting on the silting up of the rivers, Sarwer Hossain, a fisherman turned day labourer of Kapilmuni village in Paikgachha upazila of Khulna blamed his fate.

Genetically modified (GMO) crops remain contentious, against the background of World Bank estimates that the earth will have to feed 8 to 12 billion people by 2050.
   Below we outline the key facts and some of the arguments in the debate for and against GMOs:
   l Genetic modification is a technique where individual genes can be copied and transferred to another living organism. It changes the genetic make-up by adding or removing specific characteristics.
   l Biotech crops are plants that have been genetically altered to improve resistance to diseases caused by insects or viruses and to increase tolerance towards herbicides or extreme weather.
   l One of the best-known examples is gene-modified soy which is tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate, allowing for better weed control and fewer lost plants.
   l The United States is the world leader in biotech crops, with gene-spliced varieties accounting for 75 percent of US soybeans, some 70 percent of cotton and 35 percent of corn.
   l Before the EU’s decision to allow imports of Bt-11 maize in May 2004, the first new GMO approval since 1998, the EU had not permitted experimental or commercial growth of any new gene crops since October 1998. Then, 18 gene plant varieties were already approved, including maize, rapeseed, chicory and soy.
   l But as consumer fears grew in the late 1990s, EU states including Austria, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg banned already approved gene crops.
   l EU governments also restricted field trials, and between 1998 and 2002 the number of trials dropped by nearly 90 percent.
   l The United States, with Argentina and Canada, decided to challenge the de facto EU ban within the World Trade Organisation. It said there was no scientific basis for the moratorium and that it was illegal.
   
   Arguments for
   l Supporters of GMO technology say it will lower costs for farmers, increase crop yields, decrease the need for chemicals and help to feed millions in a hungry world.
   l Some proponents argue the world has two choices if it keeps growing and wishes to avoid food shortages: either alter the genetic makeup of crops so that they increase production from the same space or clear more savanna and rainforest, thus reducing biodiversity, to expand the world’s productive farm land.
   
   Arguments against
   l Opponents are concerned about the health risks and the threat to the environment, saying not enough studies have been done to prove it is safe and will not harm natural species. They also fear the impact on biodiversity and control of crops by large corporations.
   l Opponents are also concerned about the extent to which commercial interests are driving the science and the regulatory system. “A key question remains why such an enormously powerful technology, about which there are still deep uncertainties, has been introduced so rapidly without meaningful public consultation,” says GM Watch on its website. - Green groups say there have been no long-term health tests on GMOs, claiming that biotech plants can contain antibiotic resistant genes which may be able to pass on this resistance to humans, and insects may also develop resistance to GMO toxins.
   They warn of the dangers that GMO plants can pose to traditional and organic agriculture with the risk of cross-pollination and long-term contamination of soil.
   “Genetic engineering has not been assessed against alternatives such as organic farming,” UK-based green group Five Year Freeze said on its website.
   — Planet Ark