Govt plans to create blue network using canals in Dhaka: Rizwana

The government plans to create a blue network using the canals in Dhaka that are still possible to be recovered.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser of Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of environment, forest and climate change, told this while speaking at a workshop as a chief guest at the Forest Department in the capital on Saturday.

The Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) organised the workshop titled ‘Spatial and Temporal Changes in Dhaka City’s Urban Ecosystem, Landscape and Biodiversity over the Past 100 Years and Formulation of Strategic Action Plan’.

Rizwana said Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (RAJUK) should conduct weekly operations to recover occupied city canals and warned that no misdeed should be legitimated.

She also said that if necessary, eviction drives should be intensified in this regard.

The adviser called for environmentally compatible urban development plans and underscored the need for coordinated efforts among all government agencies to protect and expand green and wetland areas.

Dr Farhina Ahmed, secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Md Mahmudul Hasan, administrator of Dhaka North City Corporation; Major General (Retd) Md Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar, chairman of RAJUK; and Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury, chief Conservator of Forests; addressed the workshop, among others.