Everyone is responsible for protecting our natural resource River – Rizwana Hasan
Rizwana Hasan, Executive director, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said, “If we have billions of rupees and no river, we will not survive. The river is a natural resource, no one has the right to destroy it, it is everyone’s responsibility to protect this natural resource.”
She said this while addressing a river dialogue organized under the slogan ‘Let’s listen to the river’ in Nilphamari, Bangladesh. The dialogue took place on the banks of Kalmdar-Burikhora river at Parghat Alor Bazar in Domar Upazila of the district. The dialogue started at 10.30 am and continued till 1.30 pm.
In the dialogue organized by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and Riverine People to protect the nature-environment, Syeda Rizwana Hasan further said, “The condition of the Nilphamari’s rivers aren’t as good as it was heard.”
No project should get adopted without consulting the people dependent and living by the side of the river. No project should be undertaken that harms the aquatic biodiversity of a river.
Professor Tuhin Wadud, Director of Riverine People and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Begum Rokeya University, addressed the dialogue as the keynote speaker.
In his keynote speech, he remarked, “We all have a role to play as citizens along with the government in protecting the rivers. If any river is occupied or polluted somewhere, the locals have to play a role. That is why we need to organize to protect the river. “
Shahina Shabnam, Executive officer of Domar Upazila, Harun Aur Rashid, Executive Engineer, Rangpur and Nilphamari District, Barind Multipurpose Development Project, Aminur Rahman, Sub-Divisional Engineer, Nilphamari Water Development Board, Abdul Wadud, Convener, Deonai River Protection Committee and Tanmoy Sanyal, Coordinator of Northern BELA, also spoke on occasion.
Members of seven river protection committees participated in the dialogue, including Deonai, Shalki, Chekadara, Kharkharia, Yamuneshwari, and Kalamdar-Burikhora.
