The taskforce on river protection Wednesday appreciated the BIWTA for its ongoing eviction drives on the banks of the Rivers Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Sitalakhya.
State minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury presided over the first meeting of the taskforce at the conference room of the MoS.
He said that the ongoing eviction drive will continue.
He thanked the ministry of home affairs for their cooperation during the eviction drive.
The government will construct 40 kilometres of 'key wall' and 52 kilometres of walkway on the retrieved banks of the four rivers around Dhaka by 2022, the meeting was informed..
The wall and walkway would be constructed on the banks of the Buriganga, the Turag, the Balu and the Shitalakhya. The riverbanks were recovered from the grip of occupants recently.
A project is being implemented to build 40 kilometres of wall, 52 kilometres of walkway, three eco-parks, 19 RCC jetties and other infrastructure and set up 10,820 boundary pillars on the recovered banks of the rivers. The project will be completed by 2022.
The government evicted 5,239 illegal structures from the banks of the rivers around Dhaka and recovered 145 acres of embankments from January to June this year. Besides, about Tk 90 million (9.0 crore) was realised from the grabbers through auction and as penalty, the meeting was told.
BSS adds, it was informed that Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) installed 9,577 boundary pillars on riverbanks during 2010-2019 and recovered 612 acres of land removing illegal structures. About 378 acres of land were recovered in Dhaka while 233 acres in Narayanganj. A total of 15,592 illegal establishments were removed in Dhaka and Narayanganj.
Speaking at the meeting, Khalid said as per the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, eviction drives continued on the riverbanks aiming to save the country's rivers.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin, Shipping Secretary Abdus Samad, Water Resources Secretary Kabir Bin Anwar, Industries Secretary Abdul Halim and National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) chairman Dr Muzibur Rahman Howlader were, among others, present at the meeting.
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