Buriganga Polluters: HC asks Wasa to sever their water supply

The High Court yesterday directed Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) to snap within next six months water supply connections to those buildings and structures which release sewage wastes directly into the Buriganga river.

Besides, the court heavily rebuked Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan for providing water supply connections to those buildings which don't have sewage lines and septic tanks and are directly releasing wastes into the Buriganga and polluting its water.

The HC said there is no provision under the Wasa Act, 1996 and Wasa Rules, 2011 for providing water supply connections to structures not having sewage lines and septic tanks, but the Wasa provided connections to such buildings and structures in violation of the law and rules.

"The activities of the managing director of Dhaka Wasa don't demonstrate that he does not know the law and rules. If he does it [providing water supply connections] being aware of the law and rules, it is a punishable offence," the HC bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah said.

The bench made the remarks during hearing a writ petition, filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) in May 2010, seeking necessary directives to close the drains and sewage lines connected to the Buriganga and to save it from pollution.

Yesterday, the HC bench asked Dhaka Wasa and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to make the owners and users of the structures and buildings, which do not have sewage lines and septic tanks, aware by issuing notices and making announcements through loudspeakers on the banks of the Buriganga before snapping their water supply connections.

The HC bench came up with the directives after examining two compliance reports submitted by Dhaka Wasa, a report submitted by Dhaka South City Corporation and another one submitted by HRPB, writ petitioner's lawyer Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star.