Demarcate Turag, Balu boundaries, HC tells govt
The High Court today directed the government to demarcate the original boundaries of the Turag and Balu rivers and start setting up pillars on the boundaries in two weeks to save the rivers from encroachment.
The court also asked the government to submit a report before it after complying with the order by September 15.
The HC bench of Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Md Khurshid Alam Sarker also directed the government to stop illegal construction and remove structures on the Turag river in Kamarpara area near the capital in seven days.
The HC bench came up with the order following the publication of a photo caption in The Daily Star on July 12 and a writ petition by Manzill Murshid on behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on July 17.
In the petition, he sought directives on the government to set up pillars on the original boundaries of the Balu and Turag rivers to prevent them from being encroached upon.
He in the petition said the HC in a judgment on June 25, 2009, directed the government to demarcate the original boundaries of the Balu, Turag, Buriganga and Shitalakkhya rivers through a special survey committee as per CS (cadastral survey) and RS (revisional survey) records, to set up pillars on the boundaries and to construct walkways on their banks in two years. The HC directives came following a writ petition by the HRPB.
The government had demarcated the areas of the rivers and started establishing pillars on the boundaries of the rivers, but it had reportedly stopped setting up pillars on the boundaries of the Balu and Turag more than two years back, he said in the petition.
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