Cleanup Drive Begins to Revive Old Buriganga Channel

Bangla Press Desk:  The government on Friday launched a massive cleanliness drive at the Durani canal and adjacent areas to revive the navigability of the Old Buriganga channel in Dhaka.

The Dhaka district administration and a volunteer-based youth organisation 'BD Clean' jointly launched the drive.

The drive began following the Prime Minister's directive to revive the channel after removing waste dumps.

In line with the PM's directive, initiatives have been taken for re-excavation, eviction drives and dredging projects to revive the blocked waterway, restore navigability and build modern civic walkways.

State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam inaugurated the cleanliness drive of a 7-kilometre historical waterway near Kamrangirchar and Rasulpur in Dhaka.

Before starting the drive, the state minister administered an oath to stakeholders, including members of BD Clean.

"It is imperative to keep canals and rivers free from waste to protect the environment and public health. The joint initiative of the Dhaka district administration and BD Clean is praiseworthy," he said while inaugurating the cleanliness drive.

"We hope that the programme will be successfully completed and local people will benefit from it," he added.

According to Dhaka district administration, an approximately 1,000 feet of the 3.2-km-long Old Buriganga channel, the oldest water channel in Old Dhaka, located around the Durani Bridge area, as well as different parts of the channel, have become waste-dumping sites due to land encroachment.