The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways has expressed deep concern over the construction of nine  ‘unplanned bridges’ by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) on six rivers in Jashore, including on the Bhairab and the Chitra rivers.

Mohammad Shahid Mia, president of the organisation and its general secretary Ashis Kumar Dey expressed the concern in a statement on Wednesday.

At the same time, they urged to immediately suspend the construction work and finalize the new project with the opinions of all parties concerned and experts.

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Ignoring the opinion of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, if the bridges are constructed, vessels movement will be hampered and the rivers will dry up and be abandoned in the near future, the statement said.

LGED is constructing 9 bridges under the Western Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project (WBBP).

Among these, one bridge is being constructed on the Teka river at Manirampur, two at a distance of one and a half kilometers on the Mukteshwari river, one on the Sri river, two on the Harihar river, one on the Bhairab river in Sadar upazila and two on the Bhairab and Chitra rivers in Bagharpara.

The leaders of the NCPSRR alleged that the LGED did not take No Oobjection Certificate (NOC) from BIWTA for the construction of bridges.

The advice of the National River Conservation Commission, recognised as the legal guardian of all rivers by the High Court's verdict, was not be taken, they alleged.

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The statement said that the height from the surface of the water to the bottom of the girders of these bridges should be 16 feet to 25 feet. But the height of the bridges under construction is minimum 4.59 feet and maximum 11.50 feet.

Stating that such decision of LGED is against the public interest, the statement said, the Supreme Court's verdict has directed the government to protect all the rivers of Bangladesh.

According to statement, environment-friendly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself is sincere about the protection of rivers and has ordered all authorities concerned to take necessary steps in this regard.

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