The Wider Image: Living along a 'dead' river in Bangladesh
Nurul Islam, 70, and his granddaughter prepare ingredients at their street food cart as they sell fuchka, a type of flatbread snack, beside the Buriganga river in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 17, 2023. Two decades ago Islam earned his living by fishing in the Buriganga river that flows southwest of the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka and was once its lifeline. Now, with hardly any fish to be found in the 'dead' river, thanks to pollution from widespread dumping of industrial and human waste, Islam now sells street food on a small cart nearby to make ends meet. "Twenty years ago this river water was good. It was full of life," said Islam, whose family has been living on the bank of the river for generations. "We used to bathe in the river. There were lots of fish... many of us used to earn a living by catching fish in the river. Now the scenario has changed." REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain SEARCH "HOSSAIN BURIGANGA POLLUTION" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
