Dev plans must not ignore environment: PM

City Desk :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged the authorities concerned to keep preservation of environment in mind while taking any development plan.

“Since I came to power I asked all to sketch plan for all cities. Whatever plan we take there should be emphasis on waste management and proper maintainace of flow of water,” she said, reports UNB.

The prime minister was speaking at a meeting on the presentation of the survey report and the policy decision for the adoption of the related project in the light of the master plan designed to prevent pollution and protect the navigability of the rivers around Dhaka at the cabinet room of her office (PMO).

She said that this is very regrettable that country’s development programmes were not taken in a planned way in the past.

Those who grabbed power illegally on August 15 in 1975 violating the constitution with arms did not pay attention on overall coordinated and planned development of the country, she said.

“As a result the environmental issues were neglected and rivers were grabbed,” she said.

She mentioned that After assuming power the aim of her government was to protect the rivers, return the navigability and save those from pollution.

“In the name of river training it was a normal phenomena to build embankments that heavily harmed fertile crop lands,” she observed.