Buriganga River Festival on 26 November, 2023
Cycle Rally on the Occasion of Buriganga River Festival
On the occasion of the Buriganga River Festival, a bicycle rally was held on 26 November 2021. The bicycle rally started from Manik Mia Avenue, went around various roads along the Buriganga River, and ended at 10:30 am at the Buriganga River Festival venue. The bicycle rally was jointly organized by Waterkeepers Bangladesh Consortium and Bangladesh Bicycle Lane Implementation Council.
The program was inaugurated by Waterkeepers Bangladesh Coordinator and Buriganga Riverkeeper Sharif Jamil. President of Bangladesh Cycle Lane Implementation Council Md. Aminul Islam Tubbus chaired the inaugural session. Stamford University Professor Ahammed Kamruzzaman Majumder delivered the welcome speech and eminent actor and film director Nader Chowdhury provided the key speech.
Among Others, Program Specialist of Promoting Advocacy and Rights, Counterpart International Mahadhe Hasan, Chairman of River and Delta Research Centre Mohammad Azaz, Pashur River Waterkeeper Nur Alam Sheikh, Surma River Waterkeeper Abdul Karim Kim, Khowai River Waterkeeper Tofazzal Sohel and Member Secretary of Jubo BAPA Program Committee Raoman Smita addressed the inaugural session of the cycle rally to express their solidarity. A total of 184 cyclists (16 women and 168 men) participated in this cycle rally.
Children Drawing Competition
On the occasion of the Buriganga River Festival, a children’s drawing competition was organized at the festival venue on 26 November 2021. The program started at 10:30 am and was jointly organized by the Waterkeepers Bangladesh consortium, Nirapad Chikitsa Chai, and Rabeya Art Academy. A total of 64 students (35 girls and 29 boys) participated in the competition and all of the participants were appreciated with certificates.
Dingi Boat Race
On the occasion of the Buriganga River Festival, a Dingi boat race was organized on 26 November 2021. The boat race was held at 11:30 am at the Buriganga River. It was jointly organized by the Waterkeepers Bangladesh consortium, Socheton Nagorik Somaj, and Shisuder Mukto Bayou Sebon Sangshta. A total of 30 boatmen participated in the boat race and all the racers were male. The first three winners were awarded prizes. The first winner got a television and the second and third winners got mobile phones.
Mime Show
On the occasion of the Buriganga River Festival, a mime show was organized at the Festival Venue. A performing arts group “The Mamars” performed a sketch titled “Burigangar Kanna (cry of Buriganga)”, which took the audience into deep realization about the effects of water pollution on fishermen’s lives.
Buriganga River Festival on 27 November
Session 1: Inauguration of the Buriganga River Festival
The inauguration session started with the singing of the national anthem and the chief guest Md. Atiqul Islam, Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation declared the inauguration of the Buriganga River Festival by freeing doves. Afterward, a discussion was held with the chief guest, guest of honor, and other special guests. Advocate Sultana Kamal chaired the session and Sharif Jamil moderated and provided background and overview from the Waterkeepers Bangladesh Consortium.
Taqsem A Khan, Managing Director and CEO of Dhaka WASA was the guest of honor. Humayun Kabir, General Secretary, Bangladesh Awami League; Sheik Bazlur Rahman, President, Bangladesh Awami League, Dhaka City North attended the session as special guests. Shahid Hossain, DCOP, Counterpart International discussed the background of the PAR activities. Sumona Binte Masud, Project Management Specialist-Civil Society Advisor, USAID shared valuable ideas during the inaugural session. Asif Ahmed, Councilor, Ward 33, DNCC was also present and discussed during the inaugural session.
Session 2: Speech of the Festival- Buriganga A Living Entity
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, CEO of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association delivered her speech in this session chaired by Sultana Kamal and moderated by Sharif Jamil.
Session 3: Tales of Buriganga
This session was moderated by Professor Dr. Ahmed Kamruzzaman Majumder of Stamford University Bangladesh. Representatives from the fishing community, boatmen community, local community leader and local school headteacher shared their experiences and perception about the role of the river from their life experiences. Sanjit Rajbangshi from fishing community, Geddu Majhi from boatmen community, Sadia Akter Chaiti – a local student, Md. Solaiman – headmaster of Bosila high school, Md. Anwar Hossain – president of the Bosila high school management committee were speakers of this session.
Session 4: Cultural Program
This part of the festival was filled with drama, music and dance performances. A group from Habiganj (Indigenous Tea Workers from Sylhet region) named Pratik Theatre performed in this program. The cultural session was moderated by Advocate Raoman Smita, Member Secretary, Jubo BAPA.
Founder of BAPA-BEN Kamrul Ahsan Khan; Mihir Biswas, Coordinator, Buriganga Bachao Andolon; Ibnul Syed, Voice of the Old Brahmaputra River; Mohammad Azad, Chairman, River and Delta Research Centre; Israt Jahan Lata, General Secretary, Banalata Nari Unnayan Sangshta and social worker Lat Jamal Hossain Jamil spoke during this session in between different performances by the cultural group.
Session 5: Closing and Prize Distribution
The closing session was chaired by Sharif Jamil, Waterkeepers Bangladesh Coordinator. Professor Md. Nurul Islam, from the Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University was the chief guest of the closing session. Winners of dingi boat race and art competition were awarded prizes in this session. Abdul Karim Chowdhury Kim Surma River Keeper, Tofazzal Sohel Khoai River Keeper and Noor Alam Sheikh Poshur River Keeper were present as special guests during this session. The first prize was a television and the second and third prizes were mobile phones. Certificates were awarded to the participants of the art competition in the closing session. All the member organizations of the Buriganga River Coalition were awarded crests as well.
