Media and rivers
Photo: Amdadul Huq / Driknews
I have no language to express my appreciation of the courageous role played by The Daily Star and Channel i in sensitising the people, civil society and finally the government about the consequences of encroachment on rivers and pollution of water. The powerful people have been grabbing rivers and dumping industrial effluents in them for a long time not only in Dhaka but also all over the country. This has been happening right under the nose of the government and civil society. Occasional newspaper and TV reports have failed to produce any tangible result. This time The Daily Star and Channel i have stubbornly pursued the matter and demonstrated the power of the media particularly in mobilizing people's support and compelling the government to listen to a right cause. They have successfully brought together the ministers, parliament members, civil society, and celebrities to compel the government to commit itself to taking action and making necessary laws. The government has already gone into action and we are eagerly waiting to see how much they do to live up to their commitments. The movement must not remain limited to river encroachment and water pollution, rather it should also give equal attention to saving our forests, lakes, beels, haors, wetlands, wild animals, reptiles, flora, and fauna because all of them together contribute to balancing the ecosystem. The media has started this crusade in Dhaka but it has to spread all over the country, turning it into a peaceful mass movement. Today all newspapers, electronic media, and weeklies have vigorously joined the movement to identify the sinister activities of unscrupulous people. I hope this movement will become stronger day by day through public awareness so that the land grabbers, polluters, and environment destroyers don't dare making such ventures in future. The movement must not be allowed to die down. We possibly need a group of well-trained environment journalists to keep a watchful eye on all aspects of the environment. I hope the media and people will continue to stand together for all common causes.
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