Editorial
River land grabbed by agencies
Gatekeeper turning poacher
In what must be the most blatant violation of government rules and environmental laws by agencies of the government, the Rajuk, the DCC and the Rapid Action Battalion have been filling up portions of Ramchandrapur, Baunia and a channel of the Buriganga. The Baunia filling up is to build an approach road for Rajuk's Purbachal project, while the filling up of Ramchandrapur canal is for building a road in Mohammadpur area. The Buriganga is being filled up to make room for RAB-10 office and residential quarters. And there is also the BIWTA, which is filling up the Buriganga to construct a market at Sadrghat. The matter assumes a comical quality since some of the violators are also a part of the Task Force.
It seems extraordinary that the custodians of public property are themselves laying hands on them. These had not started yesterday and are not the only instances of encroachment and filling up of wetland by government agencies, and this newspaper have been carrying reports of such actives over a period of time, some of them very recently. Regrettably, it goes on unabated.
Apparently, there is no one to take cognizance of the violations, and there is every reason for the shipping minister, as head of the Task Force, to feel exasperated since he is being able to do precious little to stop the unlawful activity. And he feels the intervention of the PM is necessary as a last resort.
Needless to say these are activities that will thwart government efforts to save rivers and water bodies around the capital. And when government agencies violate the law there is very little moral ground on which the task force can work to fulfill its mandate.
There is indeed need for the highest quarter to intervene in this regard for these violations to stop. Otherwise, we fear that the work of the River Task Force, whose terms of reference is to save the rivers and canals from encroachment, and to retrieve those that have been grabbed by the public, will be turned into a farce.
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