RpCC holds meeting on Shyamasundari Canal in Rangpur

Sr. Staff Reporter, Rangpur :

A discussion meeting titled ‘Rangpur City’s Shyamasundari Canal in Existential Crisis: Current Perspective of Implementing Court Order’ was held. The meeting held at the Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) Auditorium on Wednesday was presided over by Dr. Tuhin Wadud, Executive Director of Riverine People and Professor of Begum Rokeya University.
The meeting, moderated by Tanmoy Sanal, Coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Rajshahi-Rangpur Region and organized by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Rajshahi-Rangpur Region, presented a pictorial report on the past and present of Shyamasundari Canal.
The speakers said that Shyamasundari Canal has now become a narrow drain or drain due to encroachment and pollution. If this situation continues, the existence of Shyamasundari Canal will not be found soon. Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) filed a writ petition in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court demanding protection of this canal. After the initial hearing of this writ, a bench of the Hon’ble High Court comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued a writ petition against 13 defendants in February and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur, Superintendent of Police, Director of the Department of Environment.
and SadarUpazila Executive Officer to take necessary measures to protect the canal within three months. It has been 3 months since the issuance of this directive, but no progress has been observed in implementing the directive. BELA’s legal officer Advocate Asadullah Al Ghalib presented the court’s rule and directive in detail. He discussed what to do in this regard in the future. AhsanHabibRobu, member secretary of ADAB’s Rangpur region, NGO representative and environmental activist UjjwalChakraborty, SarwarJamilKhandaker, poet and writer Sufi ZahidHossain, journalist Abedul Hafiz, AbdurRahmanMintu, MostafaSabbirPiyal, FarhaduzzamanFaruk, AsaduzzamanAfzal, environmental activist Jinnah Chowdhury, AzimuddinSumon, Kabir Mia, women’s leader LipikaYasmin, BAPA member Rahima Begum, Mehera Begum, Begum Rokeya University student RaihanulKabir, etc. In the president’s speech, Riverine People’s Executive Director and Begum Rokeya University professor Dr. TuhinWadud highlighted history and said that the court order must be implemented to protect the Shyamasundari Canal and the social movement must continue. Beneficiaries, NGO representatives, environmental and media workers and people from different walks of life participated in the meeting.
After the discussion meeting, by consensus of all, a non-political and voluntary platform named ‘Environment Protection Movement, Rangpur’ was formed with Dr. TuhinWadud as the convener and FarhaduzzamanFaruk as the member secretary. The platform will work as a pressure group and create public awareness on various issues related to the environment of Rangpur.