If the rivers surrounding Dhaka city cannot be protected from the unchecked pollution, the 400-year-old city will get destroyed, observed former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque on Saturday.
Referring to a High Court order directing the authorities concerned to protect the four rivers surrounding the city, the former chief justice said he had issued the order on June 25, 2009 to save the rivers but that failed to yield any positive result.
ABM Khairul Haque, now chairman of the Law Commission, was addressing a seminar titled, ‘Marine Zone of Bangladesh: Protection of Resources and Environment’ organised by Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba) at Cirdap auditorium in the city.
Speaking as the chief guest, he said once Wari-Bateshwar and Sonargaon were the capitals of this region but both cities got destroyed due to the destruction of rivers.
About poor law enforcement, the former chief justice said Bangladesh has many laws but there is no proper enforcement of those. “We’re the poorest of the poor in the world when it comes to law enforcement. If we can enforce the laws properly, it’ll bring success for the country,” he added.
On marine resources, Khairul Haque said Bangladesh has already established its legal right on the Bay of Bengal and it’ll continue in the future. “You know, the resources are plenty in the sea. But, we must protect our resources,” he said.
The Law Commission chairman stressed the need for conducting a comprehensive survey to identify the marine resources and ensuring the optimum use of those.
Chaired by Poba chairman Abu Naser Khan, the seminar was addressed, among others, by secretary of Marine Affairs Unit of Foreign Ministry Rear Admiral (retd) Khurshed Alam, director (operation) of Bangladesh Navy Commodore ASM Hakim, Prof Mahruf Hossain of the Institute of Marine Science Fisheries at Chittagong University, Prof Shahidul Islam of Dhaka University and Poba general secretary Engr Abdus Sobhan.
Source: UNBConnect
