Bridges around Dhaka to be rebuilt for making rivers navigable, says LGRD Minister
The bridges over the rivers around Dhaka will be demolished and made suitable for waterways navigation, said the Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Tajul Islam.
The LGRD minister said this at an MoU signing ceremony to hand over regulatory and drainage outlet structures under the control of Water Development Board to Dhaka South City Corporation in a move to solve waterlogging in the capital.
Tajul said the bridges over the rivers around Dhaka are not suitable for navigation.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
He said these bridges have already been identified and construction instructions have been issued to make them suitable for navigating which will ultimately reduce traffic on Dhaka roads.
Tajul Islam said that after handing over the canals from Dhaka WASA to the two city corporations, they have been excavated and many illegally occupied lands and canals have been recovered, resulting in less waterlogging this year than other years.
"There was a typical view of submerged roads in Dhaka, which is not the case today."
The local government minister said most of the houses in Dhaka city do not have septic tanks. Sewerage lines are directly connected to the canals.
The landlords were warned many times but to no avail, the minister said.
Strict action will be taken this time. The sewerage lines will be blocked if septic tanks are not built within a specified time, the minister warned.
The minister said Dhaka city has developed unplanned.
The two mayors are working tirelessly to build a livable city in the city as planned and they have already done a lot of visible work, he added.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharya, State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk, Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation Barrister Sheikh Fazle Nur Taposh and Mayor of North City Corporation Atiqur Rahman were present as special guests on the occasion. Kabir Bin Anwar, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources.
