Chairman of National River Protection Commission Dr. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury has ordered to stop the construction work of Karnaphuli Dry Dock Limited and all the surrounding structures by destroying the mangrove forest of the forest department on the banks of Karnaphuli river in Chattogram's Anwara.
Dr. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury gave this order after a review meeting regarding the encroachment and pollution of Karnaphuli river and other rivers, canals, water bodies at the Chattogram Deputy Commissioner's office on Wednesday. Dr. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury was the chief guest in the review meeting under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mominur Rahman. He directed the Deputy Commissioner to submit a report to the River Protection Commission within the next seven days by implementing this directive.
Dr. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury said, Karnaphuli river is the life line of Bangladesh. 95 percent of the country's imports and exports are handled through this river. If the flow or navigability of the Karnaphuli river is affected in any way then the economy of Bangladesh will suffer greatly. On Tuesday morning, I visited the Badalpur area of Anwara on the ground. Some other institutions including Karnaphuli Drydock have been built next to Bangladesh Marine Academy. We have visited the site and analyzed various data and found that these institutions have been built completely occupying the river.
Chairman of the National River Protection Commission Dr Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury said that an expert team will be formed regarding the Karnaphuli drydock.
That team will determine what happened there and how to rescue the river. The work will be stopped until the formation of the team and the report of the team is in hand.
Director of Environment Directorate Chattogram Region Mufidul Alam, Anwara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sheikh Zobair Ahmed, Chattogram District Administration and Bangladesh Police with senior officers of related departments were present in the meeting.
