Manju vows to make Khulna clean, liveable city

KHULNA, Oct 31: Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju on Saturday said he wants to transform Khulna into a beautiful city in line with the expectations and needs of its residents.

“City dwellers want a safe and open environment where there will be no indiscriminate waste disposal, mosquitoes or mosquito-borne diseases, and roads will remain free from traffic congestion and illegal occupation. We have started working towards fulfilling these expectations,” he said.

He made the remarks while inspecting a water hyacinth removal programme at a pond adjacent to Gobracaka Talimul Millat Rahmatia Kamil Madrasa in the city.

As part of a special weekly cleanliness drive, the KCC and the Healthy City Initiative project, with technical assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), are jointly removing water hyacinths from the pond every Saturday to make it usable.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s directive to make the city more liveable, Manju said 25,000 saplings had been planted across the city during the monsoon season to create a green and shady environment.

“Many ponds have disappeared due to urbanisation. We are now working to restore the usability of the remaining ponds,” he said, stressing that public cooperation would be essential alongside KCC initiatives to prevent water hyacinths from growing again in the pond.

Later, the KCC administrator inspected a cleanliness campaign conducted from Rupsha intersection to New Market intersection.

The campaign was organised by voluntary organisation SERAC-Bangladesh with the cooperation of KCC to mark World Cities Day and raise public awareness about dengue prevention.