Activists call for non-stop demolition
Staff Corespondent
Environment activists at a rally yesterday called on the authorities to carry on with the ongoing demolition drive against illegal structures on the banks of the Buriganga that was losing out to persistent encroachment. Expressing their solidarity with the drive to save the lifeline of Dhaka city, civic bodies and other organisations, including Green Force, Youth Ending Hunger, Sheba and Nari Pragati Sangha, took part in the rally organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) on the second Buriganga Bridge. "If we destroy our local rivers in this fashion, our movement for equal share of international river waters will have no justification," Professor Muzaffar Ahmed, convenor of Save the Buriganga, told the rally. Disappearance of rivers and water-bodies will result in an environmental disaster, affecting the future generation, Prof. Ahmed cautioned. "Although there is a political consensus and commitment to save the Buriganga, grabbers are carrying out their misdeeds," Prof. Ahmed further said. The rally came after Bangladesh Inland Water Trans-port Authority (BIWTA) pulled down 29 illegal structures on both sides of the river in Keranigangj on the fifth day of the drive Thursday, bringing the number of demolished houses and shops to over 500. The speakers feared the anti-encroachment drive would yield no result, if the grabbers came back to reconstruct illegal structures on the riverbanks. They demanded that the government does not give in to pressure from the influential grabbers in its efforts to bring the original flow and navigability back to the Buriganga. "It's not difficult to save the Buriganga provided there is a political commitment," said Dr Nuruddin of Sheba, adding, "The court should speedily dispose of any appeal against efforts to raze the illegal structures." The BIWTA is facing barriers to pulling down 30 structures on the riverbanks because of High Court stay orders. "We have to save the Buriganga for the sake of lives of millions," said Ferdousi Sultana of Nari Pragati Sangha. Save the Buriganga is not a movement of Bapa alone, but of all, said a teacher of Asia Pacific University Mahbubur Rahman, who took part in the rally. "The authorities must continue the drive until the last illegal structure is removed," said Mihir Biswas, member secretary of Buriganga Bachao Andolon.
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