Dhaka, Bangladesh: The government and the city dwellers should work together to save the remaining 20 percent of the wetland and water bodies in Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). It will require USD 300 million in the next 10 years, suggests a parliamentary standing committee report.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the environment and forest ministry prepared the report analysing the satellite images of the capital with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
At present, there are 61.31 square kilometre water bodies in the capital, said one of the reports titled Identifying Sustainable Strategies to Restore the Rivers and other Associated Wetlands in and around Dhaka city. Most of water bodies including rivers, canals and other wetlands within 360 square kilometre of DCC are in the eastern side of the city. They should be immediately declared ecologically critical area to conserve at least 40 percent of the remaining 166 square kilometre open space, the report proposed.
The two other reports are: Pollution Abatement Strategies for Rivers and Wetlands in and Around Dhaka city and Bangladesh Environment and Climate Resilient Sustainable Development Vision.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
