Autobiography Of A River
Dear children, do you recognize me? Yes! That’s right! I am the river flowing through the center of your city. I was born in a mountain just near your city. I am a very old river. I spent my childhood in the lush green valleys of the mountain. I progressed further through many small hills and forests. I was flowing rapidly when I was young. I traveled long distances and arrived at the plain land near your city. As my speed slowed down, I started serving the people.
There are many cities and towns situated on my banks. I provide water to all these cities and towns. I never discriminate between big and small, rich or poor. My water is being used for various purposes for many centuries. Water stored in me is used for drinking, irrigation, building dams, farming, etc. Birds and animals satisfy their thirst with my water. The fishes born in me serve as food for many. The farms situated near my banks are always healthy and green because of the nutrition they get. A big dam has been built on my basin in the outskirts of your city. The electricity produced with the help of water stored in this dam illuminates nearly 15 to 20 nearby towns. Many industries survive on the electricity produced in this dam.
To keep flowing and finally meet the ocean I like serving people. So people always honor me and call me ‘Lokmata’. I feel very proud when I hear this. But man is a very unfaithful creature. You have thoroughly polluted my water. All the waste material and hazardous chemicals from the industries are drained in it. The city waste materials are dumped in it. So it has become severely polluted and dirty. The water is not potable now. I feel very sad as I cannot satisfy the thirst of even animals or birds. When can get my fresh and pure water back? My sisters are also suffering from the same problem. Every year people promise that they would clean my water and prevent me from getting polluted.
But they never keep their promises. Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, I am left with no space to flow comfortably. So I expand like anything during the rainy season and destroy everything that comes in my way. You get terrified to see my scary form and blame me for destroying your life. But you forget that you are the root cause of such situations. I just want to follow my religion of helping everybody. I wish my water would be cleaner and purer for people to use. For this, I need your help. I hope you would understand my problem and help me in making me pollution-free.
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