The River In The Clouds
As I stood on the top of the hills, villages in the Sangu Valley were still sleeping. In the hazy light of early morning, the valley lay shrouded; the long white clouds moving slowly and wrapping the hills like a white sari. The morning air is crisp, lazily drifting the cloud at the mountain tops; purposefully teasing the morning rays. Majestic shifting columns of glowing light shone on the valley down below, connecting heaven and earth. Hiding under the clouds, the Sangu River glistens with glints of silver. I am helplessly humbled. I am united. This is Bandarban - the remotest of the extensively hilly areas in the Southern Bangladesh with the mountainous rugged terrain, deep forests, streams, water-falls and the home to fifteen different ethnic groups.
The verdant wild hills of Bandarban have many small creeks, streams and waterfalls, some seasonal, others permanent; the flow in these streams is dependent on the rainfall. Sangu, originating from the north Arakan Hills, is one of the two indigenous rivers in Bangladesh dependent on the forest and rainfall for its survival. It flows through the Sangu reserve forest as the trees collect water and release these as waterfalls into it. The trees keep the streams alive which are the source of Sangu’s water and make this forest reserve one of the prime ‘biodiversity hotspots’ in Southeast Asia and wildlife sanctuary to many species of mammals, retiles, rare birds as well as many rare species of old trees and vines. This is also the lifeline for the people living by and around Sangu and, in the lush villages perched on top of the hills.
Riding the boat along the Sangu River, upstream from Bandarban, is exquisitely picturesque and rugged. It feels the river runs ‘over the rocks from the basement of time’ with many waterfalls along its way. In the monsoon, this tiny river becomes mighty, drenched with sudden rains, and water-falls brimming with timeless raindrops. It widens and deepens as it rubs and surges its way through the land to the downstream Karnafuli River and ploughing the valley of its own. Sparkling brilliant in the sun and in the rain, forests on both banks of the river become lush, and life goes on.
Like other mountainous areas in Southeast Asia, Bandarban is undergoing deforestation and land degradation arising from environmentally unsuitable activities, shifting cultivation and indiscriminate logging; vast number of century-old trees have been felled by loggers at this remote reserve forest; in the absence of tree cover the rain hits the soil directly leading to erosion, filling up the Sangu river. Collaborative and restorative approach between locals, government and international stakeholders is likely the only way we can protect this forest and the river and keep the experience of the soul song of the river for future generations.
