Remove plastic waste from Buriganga banks: HC

The High Court has ordered the complete removal of all plastic waste from the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka's Islambagh area to curb pollution of the river.

The court also directed the authorities concerned to take effective measures to prevent future dumping of plastic and other waste along the riverbank and submit a comprehensive compliance report.


However, the report did not clearly establish whether all plastic waste had been completely removed, as directed by the court. It also failed to specify what effective measures had been taken to prevent further dumping in the area.

Manzill Murshid told the court on behalf of HRPB that the submitted report did not confirm the complete removal of all waste. He also pointed out that it contained no details of measures to prevent people from dumping plastic and other waste along the riverbank in the future.

He argued that the report was therefore insufficient to establish compliance with the court's earlier directives.

After hearing the arguments, the High Court directed BIWTA and the other concerned respondents to ensure the complete removal of plastic waste and take effective steps to prevent further dumping.

The authorities have been asked to submit a detailed compliance report by December 14.


In 2010, following the petition, the High Court issued several directives to prevent pollution of the river.

Later, acting on a supplementary application filed by the petitioner, the court on September 2 ordered the removal of plastic and other waste from the riverbank in Islambagh, under the jurisdiction of Lalbagh and Kamrangirchar police stations.


The respondents include the secretaries of the ministries of Shipping and Home Affairs, the managing director of Dhaka WASA, the chairman of BIWTA, the director general of the Department of Environment, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, the Dhaka deputy commissioner and eight other officials.