Toilet waste poisons DC Office pond : Fish dying, visitors chocking on stench in Cumilla
Zakir Azad, Cumilla
A public toilet in front of the Cumilla Deputy Commissioner's office has turned into a public health hazard after its waste was dumped into a nearby pond, leaving the entire DC office area reeling from unbearable stench.
Visitors to the Deputy Commissioner's office and the BRTA office say they can no longer sit or walk in the area. The pond, the adjacent mahogany garden and even a nearby children's park have become almost unusable.
On-site inspection found that the public toilet is leased out every two years. In October 2026, a man named Mizanur Rahman took the lease. He had held the lease before as well.
On November 1 and 2, toilet waste from the facility was dumped into the pond next to the DC office, locals and officials said. Mizanur also reportedly rented out a room of the concrete toilet building to a computer shop.
Since then, hundreds of people visiting the offices every day have been forced to endure the foul smell.
Next to the pond is a mahogany tree garden where visitors to the DC and BRTA offices used to rest in the shade. That shelter is now empty.
Due to the foul smell, common people no longer have a place under the tree," a visitor said.
The pond was under the control of the District Commissioner. It had long been covered with scum.
At his own initiative, Alhaj Monirul Chowdhury, Member of Parliament for Cumilla Sadar-6, cleaned the pond. Later, along with Deputy Commissioner Rosy Akhter, various local and foreign species of fish were released into it to make it suitable for fish farming.
That effort is now ruined. The water has turned poisonous and fish are dying.
"On the one hand, the water is being polluted, on the other, fish of various species growing in the pond are dying due to the pollution," a local said.
A road beside the pond is used by thousands of people every day. A children's park nearby draws hundreds of children and teenagers daily.
Park authorities said the number of visitors has dropped sharply in the last few days because of the smell.
Cumilla Press Club President Kazi Enamul Haque Faruk condemned the incident.
Toilet excrement cannot be dumped in the pond illegally like this. The environment has been damaged to a large extent, and its toxic smell can cause various diseases among common people," he said.
He demanded that the Cumilla Department of Environment take immediate action.
Md Faruk Ahmed said toilet waste was dumped in the pond next to his office without his knowledge.
"The stench has made it impossible to work in the office," he said.
Locals have demanded immediate cleaning of the pond, punishment of those responsible, and strict monitoring so that public toilet waste is never dumped into water bodies again.
