00:00These are the polluted waters of the Buriganga River.
00:03It used to be a lifeline of the Bangladeshi capital,
00:07but the reality is today it sits as a dead river.
00:10Muhammad Jahid used to earn his living as a boatman in the river.
00:14He recalls a time when he relied on fishing to make ants meet,
00:18but the reality is he has been forced to abandon his former profession
00:21and open up a food cart to survive,
00:24as the fish in the Buriganga are almost nowhere to be found these days.
00:28He said the water used to be clean, but now it's dark.
00:32He shared that about 80% of boatmen face trouble with their eyes
00:36as they become red and swollen due to the river conditions.
00:39Today, the river is murky due to pollution from rampant dumping of industrial and human waste.
00:46Yet many workers across the city have no choice but to bathe in its polluted waters.
00:51Reuters reports Bangladesh is the world's second biggest garment exporter after China,
00:55but locals and environment protection activists
00:58allege the booming industry is also a major contributor
01:02to the ecological decline of the river.
01:05Industrial sewage has been identified as the main culprit
01:08while polythene and plastic pile up on the riverbed,
01:12making the river shallow and forcing it to change its course.
01:17The shoreline closes a bit to the river.
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