Interim government advisers and water resources management specialists on Wednesday emphasised the importance of community engagement and a comprehensive work plan to save canals and rivers in Dhaka from grabbers and pollution.
They said that eviction of illegal grabbers and cleaning the canals was necessary to ensure normal flow of water.
They made the remarks at a seminar titled 鈥楤lue Network Around Dhaka City鈥�, organised by the Bangladesh Water Development Board at Pani Bhaban in Dhaka.
The Dhaka city cannot be saved if the rivers and canals are not saved, said water resources ministry adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan while presiding over the seminar.
The adviser mentioned that there was lack of a comprehensive work plan and called for a workshop with all the stakeholders, ministries and government institutions concerned to set an immediate and mid-term work plan.
鈥業t might not take more than two to three years to reclaim the canals,鈥� said Rizwana, also a green activist.
She said that the new generation had not seen any clean canals and an initiative could be taken to clean some canals engaging youths marking International Youth Day to inspire them.
Industries and housing and public works adviser Adilur Rahman Khan said that there were some concrete structures in places which must be demolished.
鈥極ur ministry has a role in the demolition process and we will be there in the initiative,鈥� said Adilur.
He also mentioned that the canals must be reclaimed from the illegal grabbers so that the people could see the results of the student-led mass uprising.
Adviser to the ministries of local government and land, AF Hassan Ariff, emphasised the need for discussions with people concerned in order to come up with effective plans to save canals in Dhaka.
The eviction should be a real eviction and must not be a public stunt, added the adviser.聽
Ariff also highlighted the importance to make people aware of throwing wastage.
BWDB central zone chief engineer Asaduzzaman and River and Delta Research Centre chairman Mohammad Azaz presented the current situation of the canals and rivers in Dhaka and suggested possible initiatives to save those.
Azaz said that only a 206-kilometre water network remained while the British-era Cadastral Survey map showed that there was a 326-kilometre water network.
Demarcation is necessary to reclaim but the previous authorities did not demarcate the rivers and canals, said Azaz.
Asaduzzaman called for the city corporations, water supply and sewerage authority and the environment ministry to stop throwing waste water in rivers and canals directly.