Editorial
There is no substitute to national river protection commission
Government should constitute it
Grabbing and pollution of the rivers have been going on with gay abandon. To all appearances, the quarters involved in this illegal and environment-destroying activity are beyond the reach of law. The encroachers have meanwhile raised permanent structures on the parts of different rivers they have under their control. The industries and other sources of pollution, on the other hand, are continuing with their dirty work.
Earlier, in response to media reports on such mindless encroachment of riverbeds, we saw some attempts by the administration to reclaim parts of the rivers thus illegally occupied by some powerful quarters. Oddly though, in almost every case of such government action to rein in the river-grabbers and retrieve the lands from them, it was found that the occupiers returned to their business as usual soon after the government people left the scene.
One may also recall that the prime minister had made repeated calls and directives to this end and how those, too, could not produce any significant result.
The government has embarked on a drive to reclaim and retrieve the water bodies from illegal occupation and pollution. But the pertinent point is what would be the retrieval mission worth, unless the root causes that necessitated it had been eliminated in the first place?
The High Court last June had issued a verdict directing the government to constitute a National River Protection Commission involving experts within three months in order to preserve and protect the rivers. The High Court order further said that the government should take short and long term plans for river protection based on the recommendations made by the Commission to be so formed. But so far, no move was visible on the part of the government to form such Commission within the deadline of the court order.
The Shipping minister, however, has informed of forming a 50-member taskforce committee for what he said protecting and developing the rivers of the country. Earlier there was a taskforce force also and the present one seems to be an extended version of it. A taskforce which is for coordinating work of the various ministries cannot be a substitute for a fully-fledged National River Protection Commission with a given writ, mandate and resources to save and protect our endangered rivers and other water-bodies.
So, we hope the government will come up with a fully-fledged River Protection Commission in the spirit of the High Court directive and take focused, energetic and determined action to put an end to the encroachment and pollution of the rivers once and for all.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments