Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Monday ordered the concerned authorities to preserve 952 ponds of the 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 pond again.
Mayor of the Rajshahi City Corporation, Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner and other respondents have been asked to comply with the court order.
The High Court 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 organization.
Later 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.
