The river routes have been traditionally used for mass mobility and carriage of heavy freight, particularly in the southern districts, but the blockage of the routes is now severely affecting all kinds of economic activity. The on-going diesel crisis has a lot to do with the fact that a number of fuel tankers were stuck in the river Jamuna due to poor navigability at certain points.

The real problem is, the navigability issue as such, has never received the kind of attention that it deserved, from successive governments and parliaments, nor do the relevant departments have the necessary equipment and manpower capacity to handle the problem of rapid siltation. They are too cash-strapped to be regularly carrying out dredging, a highly cost-intensive proposition that it is. Finally, there is lack of initiative as reflected on the non-utilisation, even of the installed capacity for dredging.

Little wonder, nearly a hundred out of the country's 310 rivers have been reduced to a mere trickle due to lack of proper river training and protection. Apart from creating the problem of navigability, this is going to spell an environmental disaster for the country in the very near future. The government should treat this as the last wake-up call.