RAJSHAHI, May 13, 2026 (BSS)- The Padma River flows along the edge of Rajshahi city. More than a hundred permanent and temporary shops have been illegally built in front of the river's Lalon Shah Mukto Mancha.

The same situation exists in around fifty places in the district. In addition, locals are farming rice and fish by building dams on the Baral, Narad, and Huja rivers. 

All the waste and sewage water from the metropolitan area is entering everywhere in Paba Upazila through the Barnai River. This is disrupting crop production. 

The encroachers have admitted to setting up business establishments illegally without taking leases. There are allegations that some people are claiming government land as their own and collecting tolls. It seems there is no one to oversee these issues. 

Meanwhile, acknowledging the public suffering caused by encroachment and pollution, Arifur Rahman Ankur, Executive Engineer of the Rajshahi Water Development Board, said that there are 1,612 illegal encroachers in the metropolitan area alone.

 A list has been prepared, and they will be evicted soon after serving notice. The matter has also been reported to Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Kazi Shahidul Islam. They will be evicted through a coordinated initiative.

In Naogaon, six rivers including Atrai, Chhoto Jamuna, Tulshiganga, Shibnad, and Nagar River are on the verge of losing their past heritage due to encroachment and pollution. 
The once mighty, full-flowing rivers have now turned into almost dead canals even during the monsoon season. 

Buildings and industrial factories are being constructed by encroaching on both banks of most rivers. As the rivers have not been dredged for a long time, siltation has reduced their navigability. Currently, the rivers have turned into dumping grounds for garbage and waste. 

Meanwhile, among the 19 rivers in Natore district, the Narad River and Baral River are in the worst condition due to encroachment and pollution. Besides, the Barnai and Musa rivers are also being encroached by influential people.

In addition, most of the district's 58 major canals have been encroached upon. 
Among the four rivers in Chapainawabganj, the Mahananda has navigability due to the rubber dam, and the Pagla River has navigability due to excavation, but there is no water in the Punarbhaba and Padma rivers.
 
Most of the canals in the district are facing an existential crisis due to encroachment and pollution. However, no initiative has yet been taken to excavate the Ziaur Rahman canal. 

Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner Dr A N M Bazlur Rashid said that according to government instructions, several nearly dead rivers and canals have already been freed from encroachment and restoration and excavation work has begun. 

Projects have been adopted to excavate all the canals in phases, and the government is also currently emphasizing canal excavation. Keeping everything in mind, the work will continue sequentially in the eight districts of the Rajshahi division. 

According to the Water Development Board, more than 40 rivers and canals in the Rajshahi division are facing an existential crisis due to encroachment and pollution. 

However, even two decades ago, these rivers had navigability.