Long-term initiatives planned to restore Dhaka’s rivers.
Water Resources Minister Md. Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee today said coordinated and long-term initiatives will be taken to stop pollution, restore navigability, and ensure the natural flow of the rivers.
“Keeping the rivers surrounding Dhaka—including the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitalakshya, and Dhaleshwari—free from pollution and encroachment is one of the government's key priorities,” he told an event on Dhaka rivers in a Gulshan convention center.
Anee said controlling river pollution cannot be achieved by any single ministry or agency as all relevant institutions must work in coordination.
At the same time, riverside communities, industrial establishments, and civil society must also play responsible roles, he added.
He also urged all relevant agencies must properly perform their respective responsibilities to stop the dumping of industrial waste, sewage, and solid waste into the rivers.
When the natural flow of rivers is obstructed, waterlogging, ecological imbalance, and public suffering increase, he said adding therefore, canals and water bodies connected to the rivers must also be preserved.
Efforts to restore connections between rivers and canals, as well as dredging and re-excavation where necessary, must continue to maintain water flow, said the minister.
He said the government has also undertaken nationwide rivers, canals, and water bodies excavation and re-excavation system.
Asian Development Bank Country Director Qingfeng Zhang, head of development cooperation and minister-counsellor at the European Union Delegation to Bangladesh Michal Krejza, French Ambassador to Bangladesh Jean-Marc Sere-Charlet and Dutch Ambassador Joris Van Bommel were present.
