Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Saturday said all of those who have encroached any river sbank anywhere in the country will have to face legal actions.He went on saying that all the rivers of the country would be made encroachment-free to uphold the country’s image as a riverine country.The home minister said these while addressing a project inauguration programme organized by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) at Kholamora Ghat in the capital’s Kamrangirchar area. The government is going to recover banks of all the rivers which have been occupied illegally, he said, adding, ”I think no one will try to re-occupy the lands on the banks of the rivers, adjacent to the capital Dhaka or elsewhere in the country.” If anyone thinks to grab the rivers again, they will commit a blunder. They must bear in mind that the present government and the previous government are not the same. “What we say, we do,” the senior minister added. Legal steps must be taken against those who would try to grab the rivers again, he continued. “The present government is working hard to make all the rivers occupation-free. We shall present Bangladesh as a riverine country through freeing all the occupied rivers one after another”, he said. The minister further said that on the first stage beginning from July 6 this year, some 3,803 RCC boundary pillars, one kilo meter walkway from Ramchandrapur to Bachhila, and from Rayerbazar cannel to Kamrangirchor, one kilo metre key wall, two and a half kilo metres walkway will be constructed. The construction works will be completed by December 2020 and the project will cost Taka 55 crore. Through another project of BIWTC, 52 kilo metres walkway, 10,820 boundary pillars, three Eco parks, 19 RCC jetties, 100 RCC stairs, 409 benches, and 44 kilo metres of different structures will be constructed. The second project will cost Taka 844 crore and 55 lakh, the home minister disclosed. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, “I don’t believe that the rivers have been grabbed. Instead, I want to say that the state have not taken any initiative in the past.” After the brutal assassination of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, not only the rivers were occupied, there were also attempts to change the identity of Bangladesh, he added. Everything was handed over to the illegal occupiers. That time, the state did not play any role for the welfare of the people, he continued. He vowed to bring back all the rivers including the Buriganga to their original shape in next ten years, Khalid Mahmud added. About the constructing mosques and Madrasas by grabbing rivers, the minister said, “We have consulted with Islamic clerics. They have told us that mosques cannot be built on any illegal land.” “That is why we are going to shift these mosques to another places that were constructed on illegal lands”, the minister said. Those who will come to occupy rivers, would not be spared. If anyone interferes in our initiatives to free rivers from grabbing, would face severe consequence, he vowed. Local MP Advocate Md Qamrul Islam said, “Those who occupy rivers, have no political identities. They take shelters to the influentials of the party in power. But we must not shelter any of the river occupiers, he said. Noted columnist Syed Abul Maksud and Shipping Secretary Md Abdus Samad, among others, were present in the programme.
