DCs asked to check river pollution, grabbing

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan on Thursday said the deputy commissioners (DCs) were asked to take steps for preventing river grabbing and pollution using the government's power, reports UNB.

The minister said these while talking to reporters after attending the first session on the last day of the DC conference at the secretariat.

Directing the DCs to get tougher against the river encroachers, he said, "I know and even you also know who are involved in grabbing and polluting the rivers."

"No matter how powerful and influential they are, get tougher against them using the government's power," the minister told the DCs.

He said they have completed the dredging of 15,000 kilometers of river but the normal flow of river and their navigability are being destroyed by lifting sand illegally.

Shahjahan also stressed the need for creating public awareness in this regard and directed the DCs to hold cultural function, rally and human chain on the bank of the rivers to make people aware about the importance of protecting rivers.

Fisheries and livestock minister Narayon Chandra Chanda also attended the session while Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam was in the chair.

The three-day annual conference of the DCs is being held in the capital between 24 and 26 July.