Pabna Hurasagar River
Stop earth-filling: HC
The High Court yesterday directed the authorities concerned to stop earth-filling and encroachment of the Hurasagar river in Bera upazila, Pabna within 48 hours.
In response to a writ petition, the court ordered the authorities to suspend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Bera Pourasava and Water Development Board (WDB) for “development work†on the river's land.
It asked the authorities to submit a progress report on compliance of the directives before it in two weeks.
The directives apart, the HC issued a rule upon the authorities to explain in three weeks why their inaction to stop the earth-filling and encroachment should not be declared illegal and why the MoU should not be cancelled.
LGRD secretary, WDB chairman, deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Pabna, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Bera upazila, officer-in-charge of Bera Police Station, mayor and executive engineer of Bera Pourasava have been made respondents to the rule.
The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed came up with the order and rule after hearing the writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
HRPB filed the petition on January 7 seeking necessary orders following a report of The Daily Star published on December 21 last year under the headline of “Wetland leased from WDB being filled up to set up market, parkâ€.
The report says the Bera municipality authorities have started development work on a vast tract of cultivable land beside the flood protection embankment on the Hurasagar river, much to the grievances of the affected people.
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