Black_cats
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Messages
- 10,031
- Reaction score
- -5
Bangladesh declares its rivers 'legal persons'
Bangladesh is criss-crossed by rivers which are inextricably entwined with the health of the nation. (AFP)
0
AFP
Published Tuesday, July 2, 2019 11:35AM EDT
Bangladesh's high court has granted the country's rivers the rights and status of "living entities" in a bid to save them from encroachment, a lawyer said Tuesday.
The court on Monday published a landmark verdict on a 2016 petition filed by a Dhaka-based rights group, saying all of the country's hundreds of rivers would now be treated as legal persons, litigator Manzil Murshid said.
"We filed the petition to save our rivers from powerful encroachers. The court has declared that all the rivers should now have the same rights as legal persons or living entities," he told AFP.
RELATED STORIES
The court appointed the country's River Conservation Commission as the legal guardian of all waterways and directed other state agencies to fully assist them.
Experts said the verdict would save rivers from illegal encroachment in the densely populated country of 165 million people and where land is precious as gold.
They said many of the country's rivers are struggling to survive thanks to illegal sand dredging and large-scale industrial pollution.
"This verdict is very good news for us. We hope the commission can now work freely and save the rivers from premature deaths," said Sheikh Rokon, a spokesman for the Riverine People group.
He said the high court would empower the commission to take strict action against encroachers, polluters and illegal dredging companies.
National River Conservation Commission of Bangladesh chairman Mujibur Rahman Howlader said the "unprecedented order would help the vast ecology and biodiversity" of Bangladesh's rich river system.
"We feel strengthened. It reminds us the rivers are not anybody's property. We can now enforce a zero-tolerance policy against encroachers," he told AFP.
Bangladesh's river transport authority has already started a massive eviction drive along the banks of the rivers around the capital Dhaka, demolishing over 4,000 illegal establishments since January.
The authorities have recovered some 190 acres (77 hectares) of land during the drive.
Most of Bangladesh's rivers are branches and tributaries of two main Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra -- which flow through Bangladesh before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/bangladesh-declares-its-rivers-legal-persons-1.4490552
Bangladesh is criss-crossed by rivers which are inextricably entwined with the health of the nation. (AFP)
0
AFP
Published Tuesday, July 2, 2019 11:35AM EDT
Bangladesh's high court has granted the country's rivers the rights and status of "living entities" in a bid to save them from encroachment, a lawyer said Tuesday.
The court on Monday published a landmark verdict on a 2016 petition filed by a Dhaka-based rights group, saying all of the country's hundreds of rivers would now be treated as legal persons, litigator Manzil Murshid said.
"We filed the petition to save our rivers from powerful encroachers. The court has declared that all the rivers should now have the same rights as legal persons or living entities," he told AFP.
RELATED STORIES
- U.S. senators say Canadian pollution putting cross-border rivers in danger
- You consume 'a credit card a week' of tiny plastic: study
- Climate change may cost world one-sixth of all marine life, Canadian study finds
The court appointed the country's River Conservation Commission as the legal guardian of all waterways and directed other state agencies to fully assist them.
Experts said the verdict would save rivers from illegal encroachment in the densely populated country of 165 million people and where land is precious as gold.
They said many of the country's rivers are struggling to survive thanks to illegal sand dredging and large-scale industrial pollution.
"This verdict is very good news for us. We hope the commission can now work freely and save the rivers from premature deaths," said Sheikh Rokon, a spokesman for the Riverine People group.
He said the high court would empower the commission to take strict action against encroachers, polluters and illegal dredging companies.
National River Conservation Commission of Bangladesh chairman Mujibur Rahman Howlader said the "unprecedented order would help the vast ecology and biodiversity" of Bangladesh's rich river system.
"We feel strengthened. It reminds us the rivers are not anybody's property. We can now enforce a zero-tolerance policy against encroachers," he told AFP.
Bangladesh's river transport authority has already started a massive eviction drive along the banks of the rivers around the capital Dhaka, demolishing over 4,000 illegal establishments since January.
The authorities have recovered some 190 acres (77 hectares) of land during the drive.
Most of Bangladesh's rivers are branches and tributaries of two main Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra -- which flow through Bangladesh before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/bangladesh-declares-its-rivers-legal-persons-1.4490552