Nobody could stop them. Despite outcry from the media and green campaigners, sand traders have been running their business by encroaching into the river Shitalakkhya to the east of Kanchpur bridge in Narayanganj. Photo: File The government yesterday asked the administration to take stern action against river grabbing and pollution and not to bow to any pressure from politicians. In 2009, Prime Min
ister Sheikh Hasina had made commitments to save the country's rivers and her government undertook multiple projects involving several hundred crores of taka. But the situation has not improved much since then and the government's progress was hampered largely by influential quarters involved in rampant river grabbing and pollution. “Saving the rivers from grabbers and pollution is our first priority. You do not bow to any political pressure,” Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud told the deputy commissioners yesterday. He conveyed the government's instructions to the DCs on the last day of their three-day conference held at the Secretariat. He also asked them to forward the message to upazila nirbahi officers as well. Political leaders of ruling, opposition and other parties have been grabbing rivers not only in Dhaka but in other districts as well, environmentalists say. The greens have been demanding that the government show political will to end this situation and save the rivers. During the last tenure of the Awami League-led government, former water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen had told parliament that 98 rivers had died over the years. A publication of the government mentioned that there were around 400 rivers in the country, which used to be over 700. Anisul Islam Mahmud yesterday told the DCs that the lessees of land on the river shores fill up the rivers and raise structures, which is one of the main reasons for rivers dying. The lessees are not allowed to construct any structures on the river, said the minister, asking the DCs to evict all illegal structures that had mushroomed on the banks. “Cancel the lease contracts if they violate any clause … . If you find any political interference while conducting your tasks, immediately inform the ministry about the matter. We will then intervene from Dhaka and deal with it,” the minister said. The High Court in a verdict in 2009 asked the government to protect all rivers in the country from land grabbers and pollution. The court asked the government to demarcate river banks within a stipulated time, evict all grabbers and stop pollution. The minister yesterday reminded the deputy commissioners about the High Court verdict and asked them to abide by it. With rivers around the capital becoming severely polluted with a dissolved oxygen level of zero, the government is struggling to clean them up even after implementing multiple projects. “If we do not become conscious now, we will not be able to save other rivers flowing outside Dhaka,” he said. The minister asked the deputy commissioners to watch out for corruption in the work of the Water Development Board. A DC who was present at the conference said the government had actually decided to have zero tolerance against river grabbers and polluters around two weeks ago. “All the deputy commissioners of all districts with major rivers were asked to attend a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office two weeks ago. We were asked to do it in that meeting too,” the DC said, not wanting to be named. Another DC said several districts with rivers flowing through them had asked for dredging as the rivers were losing navigability. Over the years, the total length of river routes has shrunk to around 3,000 kilometres. It used to be 24,000 kilometres four decades ago. Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan was at the conference. He told the DCs that the government had already bought some dredgers and was set to buy some more. All rivers would be dredged eventually if the DCs asked for it. He asked the DCs not to allow any launch or other water vessels take in passengers beyond their capacity during the Eid holidays.
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