Waste from different parts of Daulatpur is dumped under the bridge, and refuse from chicken shops is thrown into the Hisna river. Waste from the cattle market, rotten vegetables and fruit are dumped too, and the stench makes it hard to walk across the bridge.

Allahr Darga, known as the heart of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia district, stands on the bank of the Hisna river. Traders, politicians and leaders and activists of affiliated organisations live here. A bridge is the main link for business and transport at Allahr Darga bazar, and more than a lakh people from about three unions cross it every day. Of all the bridges over the Hisna in Daulatpur upazila, the one at Allahr Darga bazar has the most polluted surroundings.

On one side rotten vegetables, rotten fruit and rubbish are thrown; on the other, waste from hospitals and markets across Daulatpur upazila is brought by truck and dumped under the bridge. Standing on the bridge, one can barely breathe, and no one goes near it unless they must. Yet students and young people once came to the bridge to relax.

Around Allahr Darga bazar, rotten vegetables from the vegetable market, hair from salons, rotten fruit, hotel leftovers, and waste from grocery and chicken shops are being thrown under the bridge. Mixing with the water, it creates a stench, and water-polluting waste is dumped under the bridge all the time.

Local people say the authorities concerned have yet to take any step to dredge the Hisna or clean it up. Bearing pollution and encroachment, this historic river of Daulatpur survives like a flickering lamp.

Several volunteers and local people, under a Hisna River Protection banner, ran awareness campaigns on their own, including banners urging people not to dump waste under the bridge. Even so, people have done nothing to stop dumping.

Abdus Salam, who does business beside the bridge, said: "Many shopkeepers and traders here throw rubbish into the river. That's not right. The smell makes us suffer, but people don't want to understand."

Passer-by Alamgir Hossain said on the bridge: "I've heard that people used to come onto the bridge in the evening to chat over tea. Now we don't come this way unless we have to. The stench is suffocating. I'm just getting across the bridge with a mask on and heading home."

Local trader Hamidul Islam said: "Just look at this! The river under the bridge in the middle of the market has become a complete dump. Day after day so much filthy rubbish is thrown in, but no one cares. Is the administration asleep? Or are they pretending not to see what they see?"

Trader Mahamudul Hasan Mahi Biswas said: "This is wrong! It is not only ruining the local environment; we are becoming physically and mentally weak. It's hard to cross the bridge without a mask. Filthy rubbish is brought from far away and dumped here. So many people's lives depend on this river. Don't they ever think of that? Those bringing rubbish from elsewhere to dump here should be punished even more harshly."

Volunteer Rizvi Ahmed Tushar said angrily: "The banners are lying torn. People aren't ashamed to dump rubbish, but they're ashamed to fix these. Otherwise the banners wouldn't be lying torn and ruined like this; people pass this way every day, can't they tie them back up a little?"

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.