BSS:

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today asked the authorities concerned to take coordinated measures to protect the environment of the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake by preventing water pollution, ensuring integrated waste management and improving the area’s sewerage system.

The directive came at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Bangladesh Secretariat where the sewerage connections of buildings in the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara-Niketan area and ongoing efforts to make the lake pollution-free were reviewed.

Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Mostafa Zulfiquar Hasan (Hasan Shiplu) said the Prime Minister called for close coordination among the relevant ministries, city corporations and implementing agencies to remove waste from the lake, curb water pollution and protect its ecological balance.

Officials informed the meeting that short-, medium- and long-term action plans have already been formulated to restore the lake’s environment.

Immediate steps, they said, are needed to stop untreated sewage from buildings from being discharged directly into the lake, one of the major sources of pollution.

The meeting also emphasised the installation of a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) as a key component of the pollution control strategy.

Discussions focused on ensuring regular cleaning of the lake and its connecting canals, removing accumulated waste and maintaining uninterrupted water flow.

Hasan Shiplu said the meeting also reviewed possible measures to prevent solid and liquid waste from the Korail slum from being discharged directly into the lake.

Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, State Minister for Housing and Public Works Ahammad Sohel Monzoor, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Md Safiqul Islam Khan, RAJUK Chairman Engineer Md Reazul Islam and secretaries and senior officials of the relevant ministries and agencies attended the meeting.