The news that two hotels have been built by encroaching upon the Meghna River and its riverbank in the Shatnol Launch Ghat area of Matlab Uttar Upazila in Chandpur is nothing new.
Rather, it is a small reflection of our country's long-standing national affliction of river encroachment. Bangladesh being a riverine nation is not merely a decorative phrase found in textbooks—it is the very foundation of the state's existence.
The Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, and countless other rivers sustain the country's economy, agriculture, fisheries, inland water transport, biodiversity, and cultural heritage. A river is not just a flowing body of water; it is an integral part of a living ecosystem.
If rivers gradually fall victim to encroachment, landfilling, and pollution, people's livelihoods, food security, navigation, and even the country's natural resilience against climate change are put at risk.
A report published yesterday in The Daily Ittefaq stated that these two hotels in the Shatnol Launch Ghat area of Matlab Uttar Upazila have no approval from the relevant authorities. One hotel has been operating for a long time, while the other is still under construction.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has clearly stated that it neither granted permission nor even received any application for such approval.
If this is true, a serious question arises: before such visible structures were built and commercial operations began, why did the matter not come to the attention of the local administration, land administration, the Department of Environment, or local government institutions?
Administrative inaction often emboldens encroachers because weak enforcement of the law is the greatest enabler of illegal occupation.
Bangladesh does not lack laws to protect its rivers. The responsibilities of the National River Conservation Commission, BIWTA, the Department of Environment, district administrations, and local authorities are clearly defined by law.
The High Court has, in several landmark rulings, recognized rivers as living entities and directed the authorities to take strict action against encroachers. Yet, in reality, illegal structures continue to mushroom along the banks of many rivers across the country.
The primary reasons include a lack of coordination, a culture of avoiding responsibility, political influence, and bureaucratic delays. As one agency waits for another to take action, illegal structures eventually become permanent realities.
The damage caused by river encroachment is not limited to the present. When the natural flow of a river is obstructed, navigability declines, waterlogging increases, flood risks intensify, fish breeding is disrupted, and river-based economic activities suffer.
In this era of climate change, when Bangladesh is facing increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters, narrowing rivers means weakening the country's natural defense system.
Addressing this crisis requires more than sporadic eviction drives; it demands a comprehensive and sustained national action plan. First, the boundaries of all rivers should be officially demarcated, and digital maps should be made publicly accessible.
Second, all approvals for construction projects in river-adjacent areas should be published through an online system so that citizens can also monitor compliance. Third, any allegation of illegal encroachment should be investigated and acted upon within a fixed timeframe.
Fourth, those who facilitate river encroachment through negligence or collusion while in public office must also be brought under the law. At the same time, educational institutions, the media, and civil society must work together to build long-term public awareness about river conservation.
It must be remembered that encroaching upon a river is not merely the illegal seizure of a few plots of land—it is a breach of humanity's covenant with nature. A nation that cannot protect its own rivers cannot safeguard its long-term development.
Therefore, the incident in Chandpur cannot be dismissed as an isolated complaint. The old truth must be repeated time and again: "If the rivers survive, Bangladesh will survive."
Unless all forms of encroachment on rivers, canals, and wetlands are prevented and eliminated, the path toward sustainable development and a truly welfare-oriented state will itself become obstructed.
