RAJSHAHI, Nov 10, 2018 (BSS)-Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) will implement Taka 1,800 crore development programmes within next two years for improving living and livelihood condition of the city dwellers.
The RCC intends to establish playground, ward councilor office, community centre and children park in each of the 30 wards in the city.
Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton revealed this while inaugurating a Victory Day Football Tournament on Mirjapur Shaymal playground in the city on Friday afternoon as chief guest.
Chaired by BR Friends Club President Bakul Islam the ceremony was addressed, among others, by local Awami League leaders Mustaque Ahmed, Md Alauddin, Abdul Maleque and Faisal Ahmed.
Liton told the meeting that the corporation has taken an initiative of conserving and renovating 22 natural ponds in the city aiming to retain its surface water resources to protect environment from further degradation.
The corporation has already adopted a Tk 752-crore development project titled ‘Natural Water Bodies Conservation and Development in Rajshahi City’ to protect the ponds.
Liton said 22 ponds will be conserved and necessary land will be acquired for the purpose. “None would be allowed to fill in the ponds.”
Under the project, embankments of the ponds will be built with concrete wall and ponds will be excavated. Concrete stair will be constructed in all the developed ponds to make those attractive among city dwellers and facilitate them to use those suitably.
There were 729 ponds and canals in the metropolis in 2002, but the number declined to 393 now due to indiscriminate dumping of waste and unplanned urbanisation.
Due to usual decline of surface water, he said, dependence on groundwater has been increasing day by day for ensuring smooth water supply to the city dwellers causing rapid decline of groundwater level in the last couple of years.
The situation deteriorates during every dry season leaving most of the hand-driven tubewell inoperative. “We’ve no alternative to conservation of surface water resources to remain the groundwater table intact,” he said.
Once the project is implemented, the endangered fish species could be protected from extinction apart from increasing fish production, he add.