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The High Court (HC) on Monday ordered concerned authorities to preserve 952 ponds of Rajshahi city by keeping them undamaged and in original condition. It also ordered the authorities to ensure that no one can encroach or fill the ponds again.
Mayor of the Rajshahi City Corporation, Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner and other respondents have been asked to comply with the court order.
The HC bench of Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain passed the directions in a verdict delivered after hearing a writ petition filed in this regard by a rights organisation.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed the writ petition in 2014 annexing some published reports over encroaching and filling the city ponds.
After primary hearing on the writ petition, the H issued a rule and asked the authorities to submit a list of the ponds of the city. Complying with the court asking the Deputy Commissioner submitted a list of 952 ponds. After final hearing on the rule the High Court on Monday delivered its verdict.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Sheikh Saifuzzaman represented the state.
Later Mr Manzill Murshid said, “No effective action was taken even though the influential had occupied and encroached the ponds of the Rajshahi city before the eyes of the administration. Although there are specific guidelines for the conservation of reservoirs in the Constitution and the Environmental Protection Act, no legal action was taken against the encroachment of hundreds of ponds in Rajshahi city.”
That is why the High Court has declared the rule issued in this regard absolute, said the lawyer.