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Korotoa: Tale of a dying river

We talked to many people in the vicinity of the river. Many elderly people told us that they saw huge merchant boats plying in the river throughout the year when they were young. Bogra was well connected with other districts through the Korotoa, turning it into a centre of commerce in the northern region long ago.

Nazrul Islam
I have an intrinsic love for rivers and water-bodies since 1 was brought up in a rural area, which once had an abundance of water-bodies and rivers. As I grew up. I. however, saw the gradual vanishing of the water-bodies and drying up of the rivers.
A year back. I had taken a plan to document the past glories and present dismal condition of some of the moribund rivers on video camera. One day I. along with my camera and an assistant, went out to the river Korotoa in my home district Bogra.
The Korotoa originated from the Himalayas, the mother of numerous rivers. Originating from northern frontier of Bhutan, the Korotoa enters Bangladesh territory through Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal in India, taking the flows of various rivers.
Once, there was a single Korotoa. It lost its path during the devastating flood in the Teesta in 1887. At one point, it divided into five branches. One of the branches is Rangpur Korotoa. which originates from low-lying areas of Nilphamari district. Its main flow descended in the river Bangalee near Govindaganj of Gaibandha district. The other branch, originating from the river Bangalee, flows through Bogra and is known as Bogra Korotoa.
There are many myths centring the Korotoa. The Korotoa had emerged from the water that was dropped on the hands of Lord Shiva during his wedding with Parvati. Another myth says the Korotoa comes from the milk of the deity Parvati.
There are many anecdotes, and folk stories about the Korotoa. The legendary craft of Behula-Lakshindar was floated on the Korotoa River. We don't know how far the craft of the ancient tale had travelled, but the said "bridegroom” of Behula-Lakshindar still prevails in Bogra. The myth of the bridegroom remains as a myth.
Thousands of villages, towns and commercial places like Shibganj, Mohasthangarh, Bogra and Sherpur have been built on both sides of the Korotoa along its 200-kilometres path. Mohasthangarh. the capital of ancient Pundranagar, is still there beside the Korotoa as a witness of history.
The district town of Bogra is situated beside the Korotoa. The town was upgraded to a district town in 1850. The name of the district has been given after the name of Sultan Nasiruddin Bogra Khan, the second son of Giasuddin Balban, the Sultan of Delhi from 128110 1290.
The once mighty Korotoa is now a narrow water flow. Over the centuries, the Korotoa is not only lost its water flow due to various natural causes but most of its parts on both sides have also been encroached.
We rached Bogra from Dhaka at noon. After a brief rest and light refreshment, we went to the Korotoa rail-bridge. The Bogra
district headquarters has been built on the Korotoa, which flows through the heart of the town.
The town is growing in an unplanned manner. The drainage and sewerage system is very poor. Dirty water of hundreds of drains falls in the Korotoa. There was no flow of water under the railway-bridge. A patch of water exists there, but it looks like tar.
We found a fisherman catching fish in this dirty water. The fisherman, Tota Mia, who has been living on fishing throughout his life, told us that most of the fishermen deserted their profession as it is hard to live on the meagre catch in the almost dead Korotoa. We also found that people were bathing and washing their clothes in the dirty water.
We moved to the south and crossed the river near jail gate over a bamboo bridge. Every river has its natural boundary, which immediately tells us that this is its limit. Here we found that not only individuals, but also private organisations and government bodies hadn't spared Korotoa from encroachment.
As the adage goes, "the river erodes this side but builds on the other." But neither bank of the Korotoa either erodes or builds. Both banks have fallen to the greed
of people.
When the river should flow through, devouring and building, we found that a silent Korotoa was gradually and continuously shrinking, and it's difficult to recognise it at many points.
Not only were concrete structures, bridges, bazaars, gardens and roads constructed by encroaching on the Korotoa, farming is also going on in the heart of the river. We found two huge bridges situated on the dried-up Korotoa near Matidali, some 10-km south of the town.
One of the bridges was constructed to connect a road leading to the village home of President Ziaur Rahman, and the other to connect the newly built second bypass road. Here the river is almost disappearing. Looking from the bridge, we found only paddy fields in the low-lying area.
Next day, we decided to go upstream to see whether the river still flowed in abundance anywhere throughout its path. Following the zigzag path of Korotoa, we reached Shibganj upazila headquarters, some 25 km offthe Bogra town.
Rivers in Bangladesh are not only flowing water; rather rivers are a part of our culture, and heritage. Here we found crystal-clear water
after crossing a Hindu temple under a huge banyan tree.
The Korotoa seemed to have revived here. There was no sewerage, no filth. A flock of ducks was swimming, disturbing the nearly still water. But the river was not spared here also. After going further north of the upazila headquarters, the river vanished again into low-lying areas covered by lush green paddy fields. Only a few small patches of water were seen at places.
There were a number of branches of the Korotoa. Two such branches are the Nagar and the Gangloi, originating in Shibganj
upazila. The entry point of the Nagar from the Korotoa was almost closed, and concrete buildings were constructed at the mouth.
A small culvert, that still exists, is the only proof that the Nagar once originated from the Korotoa. Neither branch here gets water from the source as the Korotoa itself suffers from water scarcity almost 9 months in the year.
Despite its bad shape, the Korotoa is still a source of irrigation water at places where it holds waters. Not a long time back, when most of the irrigation water came from rivers in Bangladesh. But gone are those days. The rivers are
drying up and farmers now fetch water from underground, which has a disastrous effect on ecology and environment.
We talked to many people in the vicinity of the river. Many elderly people told us that they saw huge merchant boats plying in the river throughout the year when they were young. Bogra was well connected with other districts through the Korotoa, turning it into a centre of commerce in the northern region long ago.
1 returned to the town in the afternoon in a pensive mood. The sorry state of the river raised a number of questions in my mind: Would Korotoa cease to exist? Will the river, which had flowed for centuries, die within a few years? Would the river, which bears so many historical and mythological memories, vanish within a single lifetime?
When we approached journalist Samudra Haq, he lamented: 'We ... human beings have destroyed and are still destroying our rivers. Korotoa is not an exception. But one thing we should remember, if there is no river, there will be no civilisation," Samudra Haq commented. What do you think readers?
Nazrul Islam is a documentary filmmaker and freelance contributor to The Daily Star.