The High Court has issued a contempt rule against WASA Managing Director Taksim Khan for not taking steps to prevent Buriganga River pollution and misleading the court with false information.
The bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah issued the rule on Thursday (Jan 23) after hearing a petition by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
Manzil Murshid who moved for the petitioners said that Khan has been ordered to file a written response to the rule within two weeks.
The rights organisation filed the writ in 2010. A year later the HC ordered the WASA MD to shut-off the industrial discharge line to Buriganga within six months.
The Environment Department cut-off power to those discharge lines in 2014 a move that was deemed legal by the Appellate Division in 2016.
However, as no effective steps were taken by the WASA MD, a supplementary petition was brought to the court in 2019 along with allegation of contempt of court.
Based on that complaint, the court ordered a report on the sewerage lines to the river. Although WASA denied having any lines to Buriganga, a Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority found 68 lines 58 of which belonged to WASA.
The court then ordered progress reports on WASA implementing the orders but they haven’t been able to show any significant progress.