Civil society members, including urban planners and environmentalists concerned, blamed the political leaders and the government, as well as unabated housing projects in the capital that are rapidly filling up wetlands, which has been ruining the adjacent wetlands and the rivers as well.
At a seminar titled “Wetland Filling, Urbanisation and Good Governance” held at the capital’s Cirdap auditorium, the speakers also said lack of the government’s goodwill to save the wetlands was responsible for such kind of illegal and unplanned urbanisation.
“The unabated wetland filling to set-up new housing scheme will not be stooped until the government takes it seriously,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmentalist Lawyer’s Association (BELA).
Even the government owned housing authorities Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) violates the Wetland Conservation Act by making different housing projects, including Jhilmil Pahse 2 project by filling wetland, she also said, adding that the authorities should stop the plot selling process of the project.
Regarding the government’s involvement in illegal hosing scheme, Housing and Public Works Minister Mosharraf Hossain acknowledged the issue and said different governments at different times had distributed plots to the Member of Parliaments and the ministers by filling up wetlands, including the Gulshan-Banani Lake in the capital.
However, he said the incumbent government had decided not to continue the trends to save the country’s wetland, adding that wetlands were necessary for the sake of water circulation during flood and these wetlands works as a natural drainage system in a big city like Dhaka.
He also assured that the government would not permit the land filling option further in the proposed revision of Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for the capital.
Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury meanwhile urged the government to check such kind of unplanned urbanisation.
Citing an example of the Department of Environment, Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju said the minister himself had paid Tk45,000 while taking an environment clearance certificate for one of his venture, before joining in the cabinet.
Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of Power and participation Research Centre, said the issues of environment and economy should not be taken in a confront situation rather keep them separate.
If the private sectors run their projects in line with proper law, the environment would not be degraded; rather the development would be sustainable, he added.
Khondaker M Ansar Hossain, an urban planner, said the government was about to revise the existing DAP that would push more wetland filling in and around the capital. He rather suggested the implementation of the existing DAP as it could accommodate around 2.76 core people.
