PM calls for saving rivers
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the ministries concerned to take strict measures to free major rivers in Dhaka and Chittagong from grabbing and pollution.
“You have to free the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitalakkhya and Karnaphuli [in Chittagong] from grabbing and pollution at any cost,” a minister quoted her as saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.
The PM's directive came as a few ministers pointed out that the prime accused in the Narayanganj seven murder case, Nur Hossain, and independent lawmaker and Awami League leader Hazi Mohammad Selim had occupied part of the Buriganga river in Dhaka.
In response, Hasina said that whoever the grabbers were the rivers must be freed.
She also directed the ministries concerned to dig larger ditches and build walkways on the bank of the Buriganga, check release of industrial waste into the river and ensure that people could walk along the bank up to Kamrangir Char.
Climate change funds under the forest and environment ministry can be used in making the rivers pollution free, sources in the meeting quoted Hasina as saying.
The PM also ordered the water resources and shipping ministers to take steps for dredging of all rivers across the country to restore navigability. She also asked the LGRD (Local Government and Rural Development) and cooperatives minister to resume projects aimed to generate power from household waste.
The meeting also discussed India's recent national elections and expressed the hope that longstanding friendly relations between the two nations would be strengthened further during the Narenda Modi-led government.
Hasina recalled signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord and the Ganges water sharing treaty with the Bharataiya Janata Party-led government during the Awami League's 1996-2001 tenure.
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