Water Resource Minister Zahid Faruk said all the rivers will be freed from illegal occupation as the present government is committed to make rivers free from grabbing.

“We have taken all-possible measures to recover the rivers in phases,” he said while talking to the newsmen after visiting different sites belongs to the project “Rubber Dam Construction and River Dredging in Mohananda” in Chapainawabgonj district on Monday.

The state minister said works of the rubber dam project will begin in full-swing within a shortest possible time to enrich the surface water resources for irrigation purposes.

He said the Taka 159.97-crore mega project has been adopted for constructing a rubber dam across Mohananda River for bringing back its navigability.

In addition to construction of the dam, 36.05-kilometer river area will be brought under capital dredging. More than 7,500 hectares of land could be brought under irrigation upon successful implementation of the project titled “Rubber Dam Construction and River Dredging in Mohananda”.

The state minister also visited different water resource management related development projects in Rajshahi today. He visited the sites of recently completed project of protecting the river embankment from Bulanpur to Sonaikandi in Rajshahi city from erosion of Padma river.

He also went round the T-groin under the Rajshahi City Protection Project.

Zahid Faruk also held meetings with local administrative and water development board officials discussing ways and means on how to make the water resource management activities more effective and time-fitting.

Additional Secretary of Water Resource Ministry Mahmudul Islam, Director General of Bangladesh Water Development Board Mahfuzur Rahman and Chief Engineer Muhammad Ali accompanied him during the daylong visit.