Grabbers asked to remove structures on Shibbaria River
Patuakhali district administration has served notices on the grabbers of Shibbaria River under Kalapara upazila of the district to remove structures from both sides of the river.
Deputy Revenue Collector (RDC) Ahsan Ullah Sharifi said ten notices were issued on February 12, asking the grabbers to remove the illegal structures within seven days.
'If the occupiers do not comply with the order, we will take necessary steps against them,” the RDC said, adding that ten more notices will be issued soon.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) is preparing to take legal steps against the persons, who have grabbed Shibbaria River.
A two-member team of the association visited different points of the river on February 3 and collected information, list of the grabbers and other documents relating to river grabbing.
Lincoln Bayen, Barisal divisional coordinator of Bela and Md Wahiduzzaman, research officer of the association, visited Mohipur, Alipur, and Laxmibazar points that have already been grabbed by some influential people.
Shibbaria River is getting narrower day by day as influential people are grabbing it by building structures on both sides of the river.
Nearly 650 structures have been built over the last two years at Mohipur, Alipur and Laxmibazar points while more are under construction on the 20-km river, which falls into the Bay of Bengal in Kuakata.
Fishermen take shelter during floods, cyclones and other natural disasters in the river. But it is now losing its navigability due to indiscriminate grabbing.
Comments