5 secys face contempt charges

Dhaka, July 10 (bdnews24.com) -- Five secretaries and six other senior government officials face contempt charges for defying court directives on setting up boundary pillars on the banks of four major rivers around capital Dhaka.

The defendants were also charged with defying court orders to demolish unauthorised structures along the Buriganga, Balu, Turag and Shitalakhya rivers.

Lawyer Manzill Murshid filed the case with the Supreme Court on Sunday for rights group Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.

The case was filed against the shipping, planning, finance, communications and water resources secretaries, and the chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), directors general of land survey and environment directorates, and deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj.

Manzill Murshid said the High Court on June 25, 2009 served a number of directives on the government in a bid to protect the ecologically threatened Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakhya and Balu rivers, which run around the capital.

It ordered the government to accurately demarcate the river boundaries to prevent encroachment, continue the demolition of illegal structures encroaching on the rivers, construct pavements on the banks and dredge the rivers to remove wastes from the riverbeds.

The court also ordered the environment secretary to declare the four rivers 'ecologically critical areas'.

"The government was given two years to complete the tasks that expired on Nov 30. Upon a plea, the court extended the time by six months, which ended on May 30," Manzill said.

"On July 2, the defendants were given a legal notice with one week's time to reply," he said.

He added that the environment secretary was excluded from the contempt charge because he had responded to legal notice.

bdnews24.com/sn/pks/sh/sam/1625h

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