Legal notice served on six govt bodies
Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (Bela) and Youth Environment Society (YES) yesterday served a legal notice upon six government bodies including the land and environment ministries and Roads and Highways Department (RHD) over filling up Kohelia river in Cox's Bazar.
The notice was served after The Daily Star ran a report on January 25 on the sorry state of the once vibrant river in Moheskhali upazila due to an under-construction road.
Secretaries of three ministries -- water resources, environment and land, chairman of National River Conservation Commission, chief engineer of RHD, director general of DoE, deputy commissioner and police superintendent of Cox's Bazar were asked to stop the ongoing encroachment of the river.
They were also asked to take steps to restore the waterbody to its previous condition and inform the measures to Bela and YES within seven days, the notice read.
Otherwise, legal action would be taken for their failure in saving the river, it warned.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment issued a notice to RHD for hiding information on river encroachment in EIA (environmental impact assessment) to get approval from the regulatory body.
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