Call to protect rivers around Dhaka

Speakers at a views-exchange meeting here on Tuesday stressed the need for taking effective steps to protect the four rivers surrounding Dhaka city - Buriganga, Shitalakhya, Turag and Balu - as per the High Court order issued earlier in this connection. They also demanded the authorities take visible steps to control air pollution, and cancel the leases of lands on the river banks. River, Road and Waterways Protection Committee organised the views-exchange meeting at Mukti Bhaban in city’s Purana Paltan.  Committee convener Ashish Kumar Dey moderated the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) adviser Manzurul Ahsan Khan said the rivers have got endangered for three reasons- illegal grabbing, pollution and leasing out of river areas by the authorities concerned, according to UNB.