Ensure contamination-free river water within a year: Commission 

The National River Conservation Commission has asked the city corporations, water supply, sewerage and other agencies concerned to ensure contamination-free water in different rivers and canals in Dhaka and nearby areas.

"Otherwise, the commission will recommend legal actions against the those responsible for river water pollution," Monjur Ahmed Chowdhury, chairman of the commission, said while visiting the Turag River estuary at Kalyanpur in the capital on Wednesday. 

"All the rivers and canals in Dhaka and nearby areas have become completely poisonous. The individuals or organisations responsible for the contamination are yet to be identified despite several attempts," he said, adding that now the commission decided to take all the possible attempts to save those. 

"The court declared rivers as living entities and asked to save them by any means. We will try our best to implement the order," the chairman told reporters, at the event. 

Deputy Chief of the commission MM Mohiuddin Kabir Mahin said they found at least 770 sewerage lines and points, through which contaminated water fell into the Kalyanpur canal, which was very frustrating.

Meanwhile, environment specialist Khan Habibur Rahman said all the bodies admitted that some problems existed there. "However, it is not decided who will fix those," he told The Business Standard. 

"One agency is asked to see riverbanks, while another one is assigned for the river water. The indiscipline made the river protection quite tough."

Habibur suggested fixing a single agency and designing an integrated plan for the ultimate conservation of the rivers.