The government has decided to form a committee to oversee the relocation process of the riverside religious structures to speed up the ongoing beautification work on the banks of the rivers surrounding the capital, an official said.
The decision was taken at a meeting last week at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) office in the city.
Around 120 structures, of mosques, temples, graveyards and schools, have been built over the past several years on the banks of the rivers Buriganga, Turag, Sitalakshya and Balu.
During the meeting, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury extensively discussed the relocation process with the committee members of mosques, temples, graveyards and schools.
The committee members informed the state minister that they were ready to cooperate with the government if relocation of the structures is done in a proper way.
A high official of BIWTA who attended the meeting told the FE on Friday that the government and the committee members reached an understanding over relocation of the structures.
He said the state minister assured them of building alternative mosques, temples, graveyards and schools on suitable government land instead of the present ones.
The government took the move to relocate religious structures from the banks of the Buriganga, Turag, Sitalakshya and Balu as those were hindering work of the beatification project, according to BIWTA.
The rivers, which are considered as lifeline of the capital city, are contributing a lot to the economic growth, facilitating transportation of goods on the waterway.
Due to unabated encroachment upon the rivers over the past several decades, their navigability has been on a drastic decline.
Besides, pollution of the rivers is also endangering lives and livelihood and biodiversity, according to sector insiders and environmentalists.
Earlier, the government started to evict illegal occupants from the banks of the rivers in January last following the directives issued by the Prime Minister's Office.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) demolished over 18,000 illegal structures on the banks of the rivers and reclaimed 659 acres of land (riverbanks) from illegal occupants between 2010 and 2019.
The beautification project was launched this year at an initial cost of Tk 8.5 billion.
However, MoS has sent a proposal recently to the Ministry of Planning, seeking its approval for an increased allocation of around Tk 23 billion, the shipping ministry official further said.
Beautification work includes setting up of boundary pillars and building walkways on the banks of the rivers, concrete benches and parks, and jetties.
Officials from the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), BIWTA, Dhaka City Corporations (both South and North), deputy commissioners' offices of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur, river police and Bangladesh Islamic Foundation were present.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
