Grabbers saved, not the rivers
The government move to demarcate the rivers of Dhaka without foreshore would be counterproductive, observed environmentalists.
It is also a violation of High Court orders and relevant laws for conserving rivers, they said at a press conference organised yesterday by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA) at Cidrap auditorium in the capital.
The HC in 2009 asked the deputy commissioners (DC) of Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Munshiganj to survey and demarcate the rivers Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitalakkhya and Dhaleshwari.
On April 12 this year, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan formally launched the demarcation process on the Turag in Gazipur. The administration of the district has so far put up several hundred pillars demarcating the river minus its foreshore.
“The DCs have adopted this measure to save the powerful river grabbers. Besides, their list of illegal structures is also inaccurate,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela).
She said the DCs have started demarcating the rivers in the dry season when the water flow is lean. It is ironic that the administrative officials of a riverine country are unaware of the very definition of a river, she added.
Prof Muzaffer Ahmed, president of Bapa, expressed shock over what the Gazipur administration has done.
In a written statement, Bapa General Secretary Md Abdul Matin demanded that the authorities must remove the pillars immediately and recover the rivers in compliance with the HC orders.
Mubasshar Hussein, president of Institute of Architects Bangladesh, said the prime minister is being misled regarding river conservation as it had happened while laying foundation to the illegal BGMEA building.
Bapa Joint Secretary Iqbal Habib demanded that the rivers be saved in the light of wetland protection act, port act, port rules and the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka.
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