Rivers have for long been Bangladesh’s lifeblood — irrigating paddy fields at dawn, carrying timber and trade by noon, and quenching hearths and homes each evening. Yet today, these ancient arteries lie poisoned and diminished: the Buriganga is bathed in industrial effluent, the Sitalakhya reeks of rust and neglect and the Turag is reduced to a choked whisper of its former breadth. We once invoked their names in song and myth. Now we invoke them in courtrooms.
In 2019, the High Court delivered a groundbreaking judgement. It declared the River Turag, and, by extension, all rivers, as living entities and legal persons. The Appellate Division upheld the ruling, establishing it as national law. The National River Conservation Commission was appointed in loco parentis, Latin for ‘in the place of a parent’, and is legally responsible for protecting these rivers, speaking on their behalf, and ensuring their rights are enforceable against both private corporations and public agencies.
