Urgent removal of polythene from river summoned !

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Shipping on Sunday underscored the need for urgent removal of polythene accumulated at bottom of the Buriganga River.

The committee suggested the ministry starting the polythene removal activities on an emergency basis after procuring grab dredgers as soon as possible, said a press release, BSS reports.

The parliamentary watchdog made the recommendation at its 26th meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Bhaban with committee Chairman Major (Retd) Rafiqul Islam, Bir Uttam, in the chair.

The meeting discussed the progresses of development activities of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) chairman presented a report with real scenario of the rivers in the meeting after visiting all the rivers in the 64 districts physically and informed the committee that so far 19,000 illegal structures were removed from the river areas.

Besides, the parliamentary watchdog recommended the NRCC for taking necessary steps so that the High Court Division disposes of the appeals lodged by the river gravers to help in removing illegal installations on the rivers.

The committee also recommended the ministry and the NRCC to take measurers for realizing the money spends in conducting drive for removing illegal structures from the concerned the individual or institution.

It also recommended not carrying out any dredging activity without the permission from the BIWTA.

Committee members State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Shajahan Khan, Ranajit Kumar Roy, Mahfuzur Rahaman, Dr Shamil Uddin Ahmed Shimul, Md Aslam Hossain Saudagar and SM Shahjada joined the meeting.