Green activists yesterday observed World Rivers Day, vowing to save the country’s rivers from pollution and encroachment.
The theme of the day was ‘waterways in our communities’ with a specific emphasis on the need to conserve and repair urban waterways.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. The day is observed on the fourth Sunday of September every year to raise awareness and to promote conservation of rivers.
Youth-led organisation Green Voice held rallies, marched, and formed human chains in 51 places in the country.
Politically influential people are mainly responsible for killing the country’s rivers through encroachment, they said at the programmes.
Saving the rivers is not possible unless the government is willing, they added.
With the slogan ‘Save the rivers of Sundarbans to save the Sundarbans’, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon and River Keepers Bangladesh formed a human chain on the Marine Drive Road in Mongla, Bagerhat.
Nur Alam Sheikh chaired the programme where the speakers said biodiversity in the rivers of the Sundarbans is under serious threat as some fishermen use poison to catch fish.
In 2005, the United Nations launched “Water for Life Decade”. Following that, river enthusiasts have been observing World Rivers Day.
