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Water Locale
Bangshi River
The Choreographers
Mr. Ruhul Amin (Mukta) will design and develop the choreography for this site.
Audience Site
Bangshi riverside
History of site and related water issues
Water is key to human survival, development progressions and success. However, the current trend of destruction of global fresh water source is alarming for sustainable development. The water use conflicts among different actors, i.e., agriculture, industry and urbanization and pollution of surface/river water due to industrialization and other anthropogenic causes are too high in developing countries.
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The 238 kilometer long Bangshi River is one of the important tributaries of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river system in Bangladesh and main common property resource for local people particularly those riverside villages around Bangshi river. The Banghsi River is being threatened mainly because of non compliance of law and regulations i.e. not use of ETP (effluent treatment plants)and drained industrial and chemical waste directly in to river, corruptions and attitudes of profit by any means of many industries. As on today there are 224 industries along with two major export processing zone (EPZ), exclusively meant for export oriented industrial product (Upzila statistic 2012). According to the same source, among those there are chemical, ceramics, medicines and drugs,leather, dyeing, garments and other heavy and light industries. Moreover, there are 195 brick fields at Savar.
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Industrialization is related to economic growth of community and economic empowerment of individuals but the pollution of water has a cyclic effect on other local natural resources and ecological niches at local level and also on traditional livelihood opportunities. Use of polluted water in the paddy filed causes for reduced yield production and change in the agriculture pattern at Ghughudia village. Demolish of other water dependence and aquatic resources, prevent migratory birds to sit on the river Bangshi. Absence of fish in the Bangshi river creates, cultural distortion and unemployment for traditional fishing people and disempowered their women family members at Ghughudia village. Such as there were as many as 60,000 fishing people was dependent on the Bangahis river for their livelihoods reduces to very few such out of 170 fishing families at Ghugudia village come to 10 over time. Further pollution also has specific health (irritation, burning, skin diseases and high mosquito prevalence at a low water time in the year) and environmental problem
The Music
Nirmalundu Sharam (Babu) a life long musician dedicated to community development
The Performance
Dance on water issues in combination with female and male performers.
Directions to site of the performance
Nayerhat is an old market place on the south side of the river Bangshi just south-west end of the bridge on river Banghsi that links Dhamrai and Savar two sub districts of Dhaka zila.
From Capital Dhaka board on the any Bus bound to Dhamri and Aricha and drop at Nayerhat bus stand and from other end any bus bound to Dhaka and drop at same place
Local website
Other resources and links
River, Culture and Livelihoods: Water Pollution and Social Change Around the River Bangshi, Bangladesh:
Water pollution and social change
Industrialization Water Pollution And Social Change: A Case Of Basin Based Village In Bangladesh (www.ijser.org)
Above book and article published on basis of research findings of the Banghsi river water pollution