Posted on May 10, 2023
Eminent Mymensingh citizens have urged the authorities to save the Old Brahmaputra river, which is the longest river flowing into the region.
Under the banner of “Media Campaign” organised by Jonoudyogh, a citizens’ forum, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the ongoing dredging work, which they claim has turned the river into a channel at various points.
The dredging work, which began in 2019 with a cost of Tk 2,763 crore, is scheduled to be completed next year. However, the citizens claimed that there is no visible navigation in the river.
They alleged that the river has been turned into a canal in the name of dredging.
Advocate Nazrul Islam Chunnu, the convener of the forum, lamented that the river has taken its shape like a pond, and people can easily cross its knee-deep water at various points.
The organisers demanded proper dredging of the river to restore it.
Meanwhile, a group of youths, under the banner “Mriter Chitkar,” staged a protest rally in Kachari Ferry Ghat area to save the river.
Several people including forum’s joint secretary advocate Abdul Motalab Lal, its adviser Prof Dr Anwarul Islam, ex-vice chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Principal Dr Shahab Uddin, deputy attorney general advocate Ashraful Islam Gorge, advocate Abul Kashem, advocate Motiur Rahman Faisal, Khandaker Sultan Ahmed, and forum member secretary Kazi Shakhawat Hossain, spoke on the occasion.
