Rivers are the part of the hydrological cycle. They carry water and nutrients to area all around the earth. They also play a very important part of the water cycle, acting as drainage channels for surface water. But humans are polluting rivers through their daily activity. To raise awareness about the rivers, every year the last Sunday is observed as the World Rivers Day. In 1980 the British Columbia Institute of Technology has started observing the last Sunday of September as World Rivers Day. After that in 2005, the partner organizations of United Nations started to observe the day. The United Nations ratified the day in that year. Since 2010 the World Rivers Day has been started to be observed in Bangladesh.

Around 700 rivers are there in Bangladesh, the reason for which it is called a riverine country. Among those only 230 rivers are now identifiable. Since 2010, various organizations are observing World Rivers Day to protect the rivers of Bangladesh from polluter and encroachers and to save the rivers from dying. However, the observer of river day is increasing day by day.

Waterkeepers Bangladesh has observed the World Rivers Day on 24 September 2016 jointly with other organizations who are working on rivers and environment. The participants of the program marched for rivers from Bahadur Shah Park to Sadarghat, Buriganga River carrying the theme “Healthy River, Healthy City”. All the participants of the program vowed to protect the river and build awareness among their surroundings against pollution and encroachment and thus save the rivers.