Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to evict illegal occupiers from the banks of the rivers around the capital and take measures to prevent river pollution.
She also ordered the authorities to take steps towards establishing waste-based power and fertiliser plants.
Hasina gave the instructions to the ministers after a regular cabinet meeting at the Secretariat yesterday, Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman said.
The minister said Hasina had raised the issue of illegal land grabbing along river banks and contamination of river water by industrial and household wastes across the country.
The relevant ministers assured the PM that they would take immediate steps to deal with the issues.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan informed the meeting that a taskforce to protect the rivers had been working on removing illegal occupiers from river banks. However, the authorities often face obstacles in evicting the land grabbers as most of them were influential people.
Hasina asked the minister and others concerned to take immediate steps to evict the illegal occupiers regardless of their status to save the rivers, including the Buriganga and the Turag.
She asked the authorities to ensure that central effluent treatment plants were set up in all the industrial areas of the city to prevent contamination of the rivers by chemical waste.
She suggested using the climate change fund for protecting the country’s rivers.
The prime minister asked the local government minister and other officials to stop the dumping of household waste into the Buriganga and other rivers, another minister who attended the meeting said.
Hasina said proposals from interested companies should be considered immediately to start the process of establishing waste-based power and fertiliser plants.
“The local government ministry officials informed the prime minister that the Dhaka city corporation authorities were not interested in supplying household wastes to any private companies. They want to deal with the garbage themselves to continue to misuse funds, fuel and vehicles,” the minister said.