Environment activists at a seminar here on Tuesday alleged that Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) is destroying the country's rivers in the name of 'development projects'.
They said the WDB's main job is to protect the country's rivers through their proper management, but now it has become an 'institution of corruption' as it has been implementing 'anti-river' projects.
Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), a development organisation, arranged the seminar, titled 'Realisation of fair share of water of international rivers and way forward to protect inland rivers-wetlands', at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
Speaking at the seminar, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (Bapa) M Abdul Matin said WDB is installing unnecessary sluice gates in many rivers, aiming to misappropriate money in the name of project implementation.
"For WDB engineers, sluice gate is a holy place like mosque. So, they're destroying the country's economy through installing sluice gates," he said, adding that millions of taka is being plundered from WDB in the name of river protection.
Member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port Prof Anu Muhammad said the country' s rivers are being destroyed in many ways while India is setting up dams in the upstream areas of common rivers denying the existence of Bangladesh rivers.
"And the government is also destroying rivers in the name of river development," he added.
Anu Mohammd said as ruling party men are grabbing rivers to set up their industries, the rivers are going to be disappeared.
Former director general of Bangladesh Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) Engr Inamul Haque, river expert Shawpan Adnan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Syeda Rizwana Hasan and ALRD executive director Shamsul Huda, among others, spoke at the seminar.     ?UNB