The court led by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Magistrate Muhammad Munir Chowdhury in a drive at Kalurghat Industrial Area fined Saber Ahmed Co, a saw mill and Azim Group of Companies, a garment industry.

During the two and a half hours long drive, the court found that the sawmill authorities occupied huge portion of the canal by keeping huge number of timber on the canal.

'The timber were kept in such a way that blocks the natural flow of water and also narrows down the width of the canal," said Munir Chowdhury.

"Besides, the navigability of canal was reduced to a great extent due to the encroachment and dumping of timber,' he added.

The court fined the sawmill Tk 1 lakh and arrested its manager and supervisor. It also gave the authorities a 10-day ultimatum to remove the timbers.

Azim Group was fined Tk 50000 for encroaching the canal and dumping garment wastages in it, posing serious environment pollution.

The court ordered the authorities concerned to remove the garbage by 24 hours.

Munir Chowdhury said the drives would continue to recover all canals to help the city get rid of waterlogging and make the environment on both ends of the canals safe and healthier.