State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury today said the government has revealed the list of more 50,000 illegal river encroachers throughout the country as the comprehensive draft list of the illegal encroachers has already been prepared.
The State Minister said this while responding to a star-marked question raised by treasury bench lawmaker Mamtaz Begum of Manikganj-2 at the question-answer session at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban here with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.
The list has been prepared following the initiative taken by the National River Commission through the deputy commissioners of 64 districts in 2019. Even, the district-wise list of the encroachers has been published on the website of the commission.
So far, the concerned deputy commissioners have sent the information on eviction of illegal occupiers of more 15,000 to the commission following instructions of conducting drive against the illegal encroachers given by the National River Protection Commission.
The rivers including the Buriganga, Sitalakhya and other rivers have already been freed through evicting illegal occupiers.
The National River Protection Commission have already taken intensive steps through all the ministries, division, agencies, departments, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, upazila nirbahi officers and Assistant Commissioner (land) aiming to protecting ecology and bio-diversity, recovering navigability, checking illegal occupation and pollution of the flowing rivers, canals, haor and water bodies flowing through every district and upazilas.
A comprehensive list of the rivers across the country has already been prepared after collecting upazila-based information from the deputy commissioners and it will act as the benchmark of the river protection.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha