A massive cleanliness drive began today at the Durani canal and adjacent areas to revive the navigability of the Old Buriganga channel, a 7-kilometre historical waterway near Kamrangirchar and Rasulpur in Dhaka.

The Dhaka district administration, along with volunteer-based youth organisation ‘BD Clean’, jointly launched the drive.

The drive began following the Prime Minister’s directive to State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam to revive the channel after removing waste dumps.

In line with the 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.

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

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Administrator M Abdus Salam, Hamidur Rahman, MP of Dhaka-7, and Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanam were also present.

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.

The obstruction of water flow, along with bad smells, mosquito menace and waterlogging, has caused immense suffering to local residents.

According to experts, the normal water flow of the Old Buriganga channel was hampered following the construction of the Dhaka flood-control embankment, widely known as the Beribadh, in the early 1990s to protect the western and northern parts of the city from seasonal river floods.

Under the circumstances, the government has taken a fresh initiative to make the channel an eco-friendly and public-friendly water body.

Waste disposal inside the channel and its adjacent areas has begun, while an awareness programme is also being conducted among local people, urging them not to dump waste at the waterway.

After completion of the cleanliness drive, initiatives will be taken to restore the navigability of the channel, said DSCC sources, adding that beautification will be carried out on both sides of the channel and civic walkways will also be constructed for the recreation of local residents.

Inaugurating the cleanliness drive, the state minister said, “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.”

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

Alongside the cleanliness drive, the Dhaka district administration will maintain surveillance to ensure that the channel is not encroached upon or polluted again.