Some 80 per cent of Bangladesh's 235 rivers are drying up due to the piling up of huge amounts of silt from upstream, waste dumping, construction of unplanned embankments and withdrawal of water in the upper riparian areas, according to an official survey.

The amount of silt in three of the country's major rivers – Padma, Jamuna and Meghna – has increased from 2.4 billion tonnes in 2000 to three billion tonnes last year, the Independent newspaper reported yesterday, quoting a survey by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

According to the survey, only 5,968 km out of a total 24,000 km of waterways are navigable during the rainy season and just 2,438 km during the winter. This has made travel by ferry 'risky', with one ferry owner saying vessels had to move very carefully to avoid running into silt or getting caught by underwater obstacles.

The report quoted experts proposing river training, dredging and keeping water reserves upstream during the rainy season to solve the problem.

Of the total rivers drying up, 30 flow in the northern region, 24 in the southern region, 25 in the central region including three in and around Dhaka and 35 in the southeastern region.