New rule to save our rivers

The High Court division of the Supreme Court has passed another significant verdict aimed at saving our rivers. Previously, justice ABM Khairul Haque had issued details directives to this end, most of which have been ignored.

Rivers are a world resource. That is why two and a half thousand years ago, the Justinian Code stated that rivers, wetlands, the air and such are non-transferable resources, always belong to the state. No individual can claim ownership of these. The people’s universal rights to such resources cannot be curbed by sale, lease, mortgage or any other means. Yet we often see rivers being encroached upon and papers being produced to support such encroachments. Government authorities too, in many instances, hand over such resources, without understanding or otherwise. This is true about the rivers Turag, Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Balu and others.
Bangladesh’s public administration seems to be largely unaware that rivers are a special natural resource. The US Supreme Court and that of England, based on the Justinian Code, have long ago cancelled any documents claiming ownership of river territory and have punished the encroachers. The Indian Supreme Court fined the ministers who had encroached upon the rivers. In Bangladesh it has become imperative to impose exemplary punishment on those who have encroached upon the rivers and also those who have polluted the water bodies. It is unfortunate that the government or the parliament has displayed no sensitivity whatsoever concerning the protection of the rivers and wetlands.
However, we may hope that the new members of parliament and the government respond to the new directives issued by the High Court. According to the High Court verdict, no river encroacher will be eligible to contest in any election or to receive bank loans.
The question now is, who are the river encroachers? Which authority will draw up the list of such offenders? We have seen discrimination in the case of loan defaulters. We hope that the river encroachers will actually be disqualified from certain rights. The court has come up with several directives that need to be discussed and decided upon in parliament.
The court has declared the river Turag to be a legal person and living being. This is not only the first time such a rule has been passed in Bangladesh, but it is rare in the world too. In 2017, New Zealand for the first time in the world declared a river to be a legal person.
The national river protection commission had previously only been given the authority to issue recommendations. This meant nothing. Their recommendations are never taken into consideration. The court has now declared this to be a full-fledged independent implementing agency. We welcome this decision. However, we fear that without political intervention from above, this will not be implemented. In light of two directives of the High Court, we feel the immediate implementation of certain steps is imperative.
Among four of Dhaka’s rivers, only Buriganga has been delineated, with posts and walkways. Such work on the remaining rivers is unfinished. River dredging is also slow. The demarcation of the rivers is now essential as a buffer to prevent encroachers from occupying these rivers.