Removing illegal structures from Karnaphuli bank
The economic
and environmental
importance of the Karnaphuli river
cannot be
overemphasised
Strange things happen in Bangladesh. Not one, two, three or even a dozen structures, more than 2,181 of them were built in the banks of the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong illegally, according to a report published in this newspaper yesterday. Yet no official action was taken to stop building of or demolish these structures when they were being built, such is the negligence the relevant authorities show to our crucial environment around. It is only when the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a public interest writ petition on the illegality of these structures on the bank of Karnaphuli, do we get a court order to demolish them within 90 days.
And it is still a matter of concern for us whether the court order would be followed within the stipulated timeframe, because it was only recently revealed that 118 verdicts on public interest litigations still remain unimplemented in the country. It is worth mentioning here that a monitoring cell that the High Court requested the Appellate Division to create to supervise whether the verdicts on the public interest litigation are implemented or not has not still been created.
However, the economic and environmental importance of the Karnaphuli river cannot be overemphasized. In fact, all rivers, big or small, and located anywhere in the country, bear great economic and environmental importance. For Karnaphuli this is particularly true, because the activities of Chittagong port, the largest one in the country, depend a lot on this river. So there is an imperative to keep the river in its natural state.
The Coast Guard, Chittagong Port Authority and Bangladesh Navy, etc. have their structures on the rivers bank. However, the court ordered these organisations to get environment clearance certificates from the department of environment for their structures built on the river bank to avoid relocation.
Now it is expected that the authorities including the department of environment, police and the deputy commissioner whom the court has asked to make the demolition drive to remove the structures within 90 days would be able to do the job within the fixed time and would not seek more time to do it.
It is also expected that the secretary of the Chittagong Development Authority, chief executive director of the Chittagong city corporation, chairman of the BIWTA, and the Chittagong deputy commissioner would publish notifications in two local dailies within a week of receiving the order copy as per the direction of the court.
