Speaking at a seminar organized on Sunday on the occasion of International Rivers Day, National River Conservation Commission Chairman Monzoor Ahmed Chaudhary said that there is political support behind river encroachments. A woman minister has links with those who extract sand from the Meghna river.
Pointing towards Selim Khan, he said that a person has stolen 668 cft sand from Meghna. The price of that sand is more than 60 billion taka. His theft has been legalized in exchange for Taka 2.67 billion.
In the statement of the Chairman of River Commission, not only the case of sand theft from Meghna but also the case of encroachment on Karnaphuli river has come to light. Karnaphuli river has been sold in the name of lease. In this process, the Ministry of Shipping, Chattogram Port Authority and District Council are involved. And now Chattogram City Corporation has also joined it.
If the important rivers become victims of the greed of sand dredgers, river encroachers and various government agencies, Bangladesh’s identity as a river country will become history.
Meanwhile many rivers have been destroyed. According to the study of former Deputy Director of National River Conservation Commission, the number of rivers is 1008.
