Legal notice to stop illegal occupation of Buriganga, Shitalakkha

A legal notice was served yesterday to the government for taking immediate steps to stop illegal encroachment on the banks of rivers Buriganga, Turag and Shitalakkha.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) served the notice seeking steps to stop earth filling and building any kind of temporary and permanent structures along the rivers in Dhaka and Narayanganj.
The notice also demanded of the authorities concerned take steps to remove the temporary and permanent structures built on the riverbanks.
It stated that millions of people residing in Dhaka and Narayanganj highly depend on the three rivers for water since they are the main sources of water.
The rivers have been playing an important role in protecting the environment, the notice said.
Illegal encroachment, earth filling and structures kept mushrooming on the riverbanks in defiance of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act-1995 (amended in 2000 and 2002), the notice added.
According to the notice, structures on the rivers contributed to pollution of environment.
The secretaries of planning, environment and forest, land, finance, shipping and water resources ministries, the chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, the director general of the department of environment, the deputy commissioner (DC) of Dhaka and the police commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have been made respondents. Advocate Manzill Murshid served the demand of justice notice on behalf of the HRPB asking the respondents to initiate steps within four days or face legal action.
 
Courtesy of The Independent