The minister said these while talking to reporters after attending the first session on the last day of the DC conference at the secretariat.
The Minister said he directed the DCs to get tougher against the river encroachers saying, “I know and even you also know that who are involved in grabbing and polluting the rivers.”
“No matter how powerful and influential they are, get tougher against them using the government’s power,”he told the DCs.
The Shipping Minister also said they have completed the dredging of 15000 kilometers of river but the normal flow of river and their navigability are being destroyed by lifting sand illegally.
He also stressed the need for creating public awareness in this regard and directed the DCs to hold cultural function, rally and human chain on the bank of the rivers to make people aware about the importance of protecting rivers.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayon Chandra Chanda also attended the session while Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam was in the chair.
The three-day annual conference of the DCs is being held in the capital from July 24 to 26.