Demand for the punishment of river-reservoir destroyers
By Adnan Tazvir
Abu Naser Khan, chairman of the Save the Environment Movement (POBA), said a clique was destroying the country’s rivers and reservoirs in violation of the law. He called on the government to punish those involved in the anti-environmental activities.
Abu Naser Khan made this demand from a human chain organized in front of the National Museum in the capital in the morning on Tuesday, February 02, 2021. This human chain was organized under the banner of POBA on the occasion of World Wetlands Day. The title of the program is ‘We need to protect and preserve our agricultural and environmental wetlands, endangered wetlands’.
In a human chain Abu Naser Khan, chairman of POBA, said, “Bangladesh’s ecosystem is centered with river and water body. Agriculture and all biodiversity depend on reservoirs. And the industries are dependent on agriculture. As a result, if rivers and reservoirs are not protected, we will not survive. We will die of decay. ‘
The POBA chairman said that many civilizations of the world have been destroyed due to natural disasters alone. There are legal impediments to the adoption of any type of project by destroying rivers and reservoirs. The Prime Minister has also given instructions in this regard. But nonetheless, a gang of thugs is doing these things. They must be brought under punishment.
Abu Naser Khan said, ‘We need industries. But the pollutants emitted from these are poisoning our rivers and reservoirs. Due to this, all our food cycle is getting polluted. So the government has to pay attention so that no industry can be created by polluting the environment. ‘
Engineer Abdus Sobhan, General Secretary of POBA said, “Most of the wetlands in Bangladesh are freshwater. Haor of this country is very rich. Wetlands, including haors, protect us from the effects of climate change.”
We are destroying our wetlands, especially the haors. This is being done as planned. Not only the residents of Haor area but also the government is doing it.”
Abdus Sobhan further said that Dhaka city is surrounded by five rivers. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of water here. When it rains again, the whole city is submerged. The main reason for this is that most of the rivers and wetlands in Dhaka city have been occupied. Housing complexes have been set up here in the name of development by destroying wetlands.
Lawyer Nishat Mahmud, Assistant Secretary of POBA said in the human chain, local governments should be given adequate guidelines to protect wetlands so that they can co-operate with the government in protecting the surrounding reservoirs. Without coordination between the concerned ministries and policies and laws, it will not be possible to conserve reservoirs and wetlands.
Ferdous Ahmed, Secretary of POBA, Abdul Baten Sarkar, Senior Vice President of the Environment Protection and Development Society, Md. Selim, leader of Civil Rights Protection Forum, ShakilRehman, General Secretary of the river protection committee, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, leader of the Dhaka University Environment Society, and Obaidul Islam, a Green Force activist spoke on the human chain.
Meanwhile, POBA made a number of demands in a press release on the occasion of World Wetlands Day. These include implementation of National Environmental Policy 2018 on Wetland Conservation, raising public awareness on Wetland Protection, enactment of River-Wetland Occupancy and Pollution Prevention Act, planning for the free flow of water in all roads and railways, formulation and implementation of appropriate plans for conservation and development of aquatic life.
