Work has begun to clean the five rivers around Dhaka and 55 canals of the two city corporations, restore water flow, protect the river banks and make them navigable again, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam said. Guide walls and retaining walls, tree planting and walkways are planned along both banks of the canals.

He spoke on Sunday after inspecting Jirani canal in Dhaka South City Corporation; the team also visited work on the Manda, Kalunagar and Shyampur canals. Instructions will be given to make the canal work visible within the dry season, he said.

Twenty-six canals in Dhaka South and 29 in Dhaka North will be cleaned and fitted with guide walls, retaining walls, walkways and netting to restore flow. The aim is to bring the rivers back to the state they were in 40 to 50 years ago and reopen them to boats.

Plans also include taking Dhaka's sewage lines out of the city to treatment plants at Dasherkandi, Pagla, Mirpur, Uttara and Rayerbazar-Madani so that only clean water is released into the rivers, he said.

The Prime Minister's principal secretary A B M Abdus Sattar said the banks of rivers, canals and water bodies would be lined with guide walls and planted with trees, and waste would be kept out of the rivers and treated. State Minister Habibur Rashid Habib said the canals would be freed of encroachment and bamboo footbridges replaced with concrete bridges.

Source: Daily Observer