Staff Reporter:
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives State Minister Mir Shahe Alam said the gov-ernment has taken an initiative to remove all illegal encroachments from 56 canals under Dhaka North and South City Corporations from illegal encroachment and ensure their permanent preservation.
“Separate committees have been formed to carry out eviction drives covering 27 canals under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and 29 canals under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC),” he said.
The state minister made the remarks yesterday while inspecting a cleaning and waste removal drive at Muslim Bazar Canal in Mirpur-12 area of the capital. DNCC Administrator Md Shafiqul Islam Khan was also present.
Mir Shahe Alam said that after eviction, demarcation work would be carried out and guide walls would be constructed on both sides of the canals to prevent future encroachment.
“If the canals of Dhaka are not preserved, the city will eventually become uninhabitable. Everyone must cooperate in canal recovery and permanent conservation in the interest of city dwellers,” he said.
The minister informed that waste removal activities are currently underway in all 56 canals under DNCC and DSCC and would continue in phases.
Mir Shahe Alam alleged that no effective cleanliness drive for protecting canals and the urban environ-ment had been carried out with sincerity over the past 19 years.
The present government, he said, has intensified cleanliness operations from alleys to canals in the inter-est of city residents.
He said around 450 truckloads of waste have already been removed from Muslim Bazar Canal alone, adding that similar cleaning operations would be conducted in other canals as well. He expressed hope that removal of waste would significantly reduce waterlogging during the monsoon season.
He further said that canal recovery, demarcation, construction of guide walls and cleaning drives will continue under the supervision of the city corporations and administration.
Warning against further pollution, he said legal action and fines would be imposed on anyone found dumping waste in cleaned canals or roadside areas.
DNCC Administrator Md Shafiqul Islam Khan said all service and development activities would contin-ue in line with the needs and demands of city residents.
“We want to build Dhaka North City Corporation into a modern, clean and odor-free city with the par-ticipation of citizens,” he said, adding that all canals under DNCC would be cleaned in phases in line with the Prime Minister’s directives to ensure a water logging-free city.
He also said city corporation workers are continuously engaged in dengue prevention activities in alleys, waterbodies and canal areas, and such efforts would continue.
In response to a question, the DNCC Administrator said coordinated development planning would be ensured with agencies such as WASA and DESCO to avoid repeated excavation of the same roads.
