HC Orders Comprehensive Report on Clearing Plastic Waste from the Buriganga Riverbanks
The High Court has directed the authorities to completely remove all plastic waste from the banks of the Buriganga River in the Islambagh area under Lalbagh and Kamrangirchar police stations and take necessary steps to prevent further dumping of waste there.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the concerned respondents have been asked to submit a comprehensive report on the measures taken by December 14. A High Court bench comprising Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice SM Iftakher Uddin Mahmud issued the order after a hearing on Sunday (November 8). The court also ordered that a report submitted by BIWTA be kept on record without accepting it as sufficient compliance with its earlier directives.
During the hearing, BIWTA informed the court that around 300 tonnes of waste had been removed from the Islambagh area in line with its previous order. However, the report did not provide specific information on whether all the waste in the area had been removed or what measures had been taken to prevent further dumping.
Senior lawyer Manzil Morshed, representing Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), told the court that the report did not confirm whether all the waste had been removed as directed. It also failed to explain what steps had been taken to prevent people from dumping plastic waste in the area in the future. He argued that the report was therefore insufficient.
After the hearing, the court directed BIWTA and the concerned respondents to remove all remaining plastic waste and take effective measures to prevent further dumping. They were asked to submit a detailed report on the steps taken by December 14.
In 2010, the High Court issued several directives following a writ petition filed by HRPB seeking measures to stop pollution of the Buriganga River. Later, following a supplementary petition by the writ petitioners, the court on September 2 ordered the removal of plastic and other waste from the riverbank in the Islambagh area.
Mohammad Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury filed the petition on behalf of HRPB. The 13 respondents include the secretaries of the Ministries of Shipping and Home Affairs, the managing director of Dhaka WASA, the chairman of BIWTA, the director general of the Department of Environment, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner and the Dhaka deputy commissioner.
Senior lawyer Manzil Morshed argued for the petitioner, assisted by lawyer Sanjay Mondal. Deputy Attorney General Khan Ziaur Rahman represented the state.
