Hacked  By  r4dBlack

DHAKA: The High Court on Thursday asked the government to demarcate the boundaries of the four rivers surrounding Dhaka — Balu, Turag, Buriganga and Sitalakhya — according to the cadastral survey in four months and report to the court by December 15.
The High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice M Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed ordered the on-site demarcation of the river boundaries by erecting pillars, demolishing all illegal structures and removing the dirt dumped from inside the boundaries without any discrimination by May 31, 2010.
The costs of the demolition of illegal structures and removal of dirt dumped unlawfully may be recovered from the offenders under the Public Demands Recovery Act, the court said.
The court ordered the construction of boundary walls and walkways along the river and planting of trees in rows by May 31, 2011.
It also asked the Dhaka City Corporation, municipalities concerned and Public Works Department to plant trees along the river under their jurisdiction.
It also asked the government not to transfer the director general of the Land Records and Survey and the deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Munshiganj till completion of the river boundaries.
The officials will be responsible individually if the works are not completed on time, the court said.
The court also ordered the environment and forest ministry to declare the four river areas ecologically critical area under Section 5 of the Environment Conservation Act 1995.
If necessary, the finance ministry will provide fund for the activities, if required, while the home affairs ministry will ensure the security of the officials concerned, the court said.
It ordered the land ministry to hand over the land within the port limit to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority so that it could take necessary step to look after the river land.
The court observed considering the sources of the four rivers and their flow needs, the government should as well dredge the Bangshi and Dhaleshwari and also the link canals of Tongi, Pungli and Karnapara in five years.
The government should form a committee to recommend ways to protect all navigable rivers of the country, it observed.
The court passed the orders and made observations in its judgement in a public interest litigation writ petition filed by rights organisation Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh seeking directives on the government to protect the four rivers from being polluted and encroached on. The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association also became a petitioner in the case.
In the verdict, the court, however, did not dispose of the case, saying it would continue until the four rivers were brought back to their original status.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan and M Iqbal Kabir moved the case for BELA and Manzill Murshid for the original petitioner while deputy attorney general Mostafa Zaman Islam appeared for the government.