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Gulshan Lake, the city's ecologically critical area due to direct dumping of sewage and water runoff, is expected to regain its lifeline as Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Gulshan Society on Saturday jointly launched a drive for cleaning the lake.
Students of six city schools and workers of a number of social organisations joined hands with the city corporation cleaning team to make the programme a success, reports BSS.
Though Gulshan Lake and Baridhara Lake are under the jurisdiction of the Rajuk, but local elected bodies and parliament members of the city’s posh area have taken the initiative to give their citizens relieve from mosquito menace and pollution along with enhance beautification of the area as they pledged before the last general election.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Private Industry and Investment Salman Fazlur Rahman and DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam and State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat joined the drive.
Speaking on the occasion, Salman F Rahman said Dhaka city is blessed with a number of beautiful water bodies which could be utilised for multipurpose use if those are revived.
He laid emphasis on effective coordination among all government agencies, including Rajuk, City Corporation, WASA and the support of civil society members to keep the water bodies clean.
Mayor Atiqul Islam said Gulshan Lake cleaning has been launched to ensure community involvement in keeping the lakes in the DNCC area clean to allow people to swim and play in the lakes.
Addressing the function, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat said cleaning of the lakes was one of the major demands of the people of his constituency at the time of his last two election campaigns.
Arafat, a parliament member from Dhaka-17 constituency, said cleaning drive of the other lakes in Dhaka city should start as soon as possible to fulfill his electoral pledges.
He also underscored the need for collective efforts to keep the lakes clean in future.
Around 400 people including students of six schools took part in Saturday’s drive.