Dhaka losing wetlands to developers

thank you [Music] is one of the main lifelines of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka the canals and tributaries that flow into and out of it absorbed the city providing transport and shipping access and the vast Wetlands surrounding it helped to keep the city livable but all of that is changing 35 years ago I based nearly 150 feet away from here but the Grabbers have occupied all these areas destroying the river look here are many seven and eight storied buildings now we even drank the water of this River as it was so clean and pure but all have gone powerful people having connections with the government have grabbed it as the city has expanded large swaths of the Wetland has been drained and filled making way for construction what was owns a rich fish empowered habitat is now urbanized sprawl in the last few decades much of these Wetlands has been illegally filled despite outcry from environmentalists worldly and politically powerful parties continue to take this land seemingly immune from any legal challenges in 1999 the Bangladeshi government declared dhaka's Four Rivers ecologically critical areas but critics say the protected status exist only on paper of the approximately 56 kennels that he used to flow through the city many have disappeared altogether and only 12 still function we have got roads over canals we have got camels inside culverts we have got townships over cannons so we are having legal battle to get those uh camels restored and recovered the destruction of the kennels has removed a vital commuter system making it harder for the mega cities more than 22 million people to move around but perhaps even more alarming hour the knock on effects for dhaka's climate the city's geography means it has long been prone to River flooding but the filling of the surrounding Wetlands means water from even moderate rain has nowhere to go there is little attention from the policy makers to protect the wetlands and it has impact on the air pollution of the city it also has impact on the temperature of the city several laws exist that are supposed to protect the wetlands around Dhaka but it is obvious they are not being properly enforced for environmentalists and residents it's a matter of necessity the wetlands must be saved if the city is to survive Bangladesh [Music]

Channel: TRT World

Views: 5,037

Keywords: Bangladesh News, Bangladesh Pollution, Bangladesh Wetlands, Dhaka Pollution, Dhaka River, Dhaka Wetlands, TRT, TRT News, TRT World

Id: -8POyW4qVvY

Length: 3min 30sec (210 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 02 2023