Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam has warned that punitive action would be taken as per law for dumping waste in the canals under jurisdiction of the corporation.
He also said many building owners have installed direct connections to the drains and canals to release sewage and they also throw solid waste there in the dark hours leading to blockage.
"Such offenses will not go unpunished. Punitive action will be taken against those who throw trashes into the canals," said the mayor.
Mr Atiqul Islam came up with the warning while talking to the newsmen after visiting the ongoing garbage exhibition on the Nagar Bhaban premises in the city's Gulshan-2.
The DNCC organised the week-long event until tomorrow to make city people aware about proper waste management.
State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat also visited the exhibition together with the mayor.
Atiqul Islam said, "People live in the city along with their family members including their children but they stay careless about the city's wellbeing."
"How do we throw refrigerators, carpets, mattresses, sofas in the canals of the city. We need to change this mentality," he said, adding that such insensible practice leads to water-logging and mosquito menace to the suffering of the city dwellers.
Mr Islam also said the city authorities require all facilities to keep the city clean; but it is impossible to do so unless the commoners cooperate from their respective positions.
Regarding the mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, he said adequate measures have already been taken including awareness raising programme, fund allocation for the councillors and legal action against those who are found responsible for larvae breeding.
Mohammad Ali Arafat said after a short spell of downpour Dhaka witnesses water-logging.
"Different types of bottles, packets of chips and other types of trashes lie in the drains of the city areas," he also said. "Abandoned items such as cushions, sofas, refrigerators, water purifiers are thrown into the canals causing water stagnation," he added.
Public awareness should be created widely so that wastes are not dumped everywhere, he continued.
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