World Rivers Day being observed worldwide

The World Rivers Day is being observed in the country as elsewhere across the globe on Sunday. The theme of this year's World Rivers Day is “Encroachment-pollution free rivers: Save Life and Nature.” A road march programme was held on Saturday marking the ceremony where Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud took part along with participants. At the programme, the minister said that around 40 percent pollution of Buriganga River has been reduced due to the removal of leather industry from the city's Hazaribagh area. World Rivers Day Coordination Council (WRDCC) read out five proposals and five promises at the programme. World Rivers Day is a celebration of the world's waterways that highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness, and encourages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world. United Nations (UN) launched the Water for Life Decade in 2005 with an aim of creating a greater awareness of the need to better care for our water resources. A World Rivers Day event was seen by agencies of the UN as a good fit for the aims of the Water for Life Decade and the proposal was approved. The first event of World Rivers Day took place in 2005 and was a great success. Wold Rivers Day was celebrated across dozens of countries back then. Later, the event has continued to grow and it is annually celebrated on the last Sunday of every September. Bangladesh has been observing the World Rivers Day since 2010.