RAJSHAHI, Aug 21, 2024 (BSS)- Large number of youths and students from
different parts of the city unequivocally called for stopping pond and water
body filling in the city indiscriminately as per the direction of High Court
(HC).

Simultaneously, they also underscored the need for full-length implementation
of the High Court verdict for betterment of the city dwellers. Immediate
steps should be taken to recover the filled ponds.

The youths made the call while addressing a youth-chain-cum-street corner
meeting at Shaheb Bazar Zero point in the city today.

Reformation Community of Bangladesh and Resource Centre for Indigenous
Knowledge (BARCIK) jointly organised the meeting to press home the demands.

Youth leaders Zulfiker Ali Haider, Naznin Naher, Rakibul Hassan, Tahura
Khatun and BARCIK Regional Coordinator Shahidul Islam, among others,
addressed the meeting.

The meeting was told that numerous ponds are being filled by dumping waste so
that the water there would be contaminated.

As the High Court has given a directive to stop the filling of all kinds of
wetland in and around the city Rajshahi, a vested-interest group is using a
new tactic to fill ponds.

Shahidul Islam said around 4,000 ponds have been filled because of the
indiscriminate earth-dumping and unplanned urbanisation in the last five
decades.
 
Referring to the official records, he said there were 4,238 ponds, canals,
wetlands in the city in 1961, while in 1981 the number was 2,271, in 2000 the
number stood at 729 and now city has only 214 water bodies which showed that
the authorities concerned do not have any control over the vested interested
groups' activities.

Islam also said the High Court gave a directive to stop filling of all kinds
of wetland in and around the city on December 13, 2010 following a writ
petition.

In many cases, the Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA) as well as Rajshahi
City Corporation could not take strict action against land grabbers.

Although the Rajshahi City Corporation had taken a project involving Taka
206.24 crore to conserve 53 natural water bodies in and around the city to
retain its surface water resources for protecting the environment from
further environmental degradation, the city authority might not implement its
project for unknown reasons.
 
The project was supposed to preserve 53 ponds and construct embankments along
the ponds and excavate and re-excavation those water bodies.