Impact of Urban Wastes on Water Quality of Turag River

Abstract: Department of  Environment, Government of Bangladesh has declared the River Turag, running by the side of Dhaka city and one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh, as one of the ecologically critical areas (ECA). Due to continuous disposal of untreated industrial effluents and dumping of municipal sewerage and drainage water the Turag River is approaching its danger level rapidly, degrading its ecological status, which is very alarming to the lives of this river. A lot of works were done to report such a deterioration of the river. To assess all such works and to suggest a consolidated recommendation, some important research results and standards declared by WHO, FAO, DoE, and Bangladesh standards were reviewed.  The color of the river turned to pitch-black with a foul odor. DO was 3 ppm with a contrasting standard level of 5 ppm. An extreme elevation of COD up to 1020 ppm against 4 ppm for drinking water and TDS, up to 6000 ppm against 1000 ppm were alarming. Regarding the concentration of heavy metals, the chromium level was raised up to 0.65 ppm against its standard level of 0.05 ppm and the level of nickel, 0.62 ppm against 0.1 ppm. It is recommended that the Government of Bangladesh may take necessary steps to mitigate the existing aquatic environmental problems of the Turag River water in such a way that it may be declared as a safe ecological area.