Bangladesh river Conservation Commission Law stalled by objections and draft cuts

Bangladesh’s proposed new law to give the National River Conservation Commission stronger powers has remained stalled despite being drafted in December 2020, as objections from two government bodies have led to the removal of key provisions, including a proposal for a separate river court.

The initiative to enact a new law began in 2020, four years after High Court directives sought to give the commission effective authority to protect the country’s rivers. Repeated inter-ministerial meetings and reviews have failed to finalise the draft, limiting the commission’s ability to address river encroachment, pollution and other threats.

Section 12 of the National River Conservation Commission Act, 2013 assigns the commission 13 functions, including freeing rivers from encroachment, removing illegal structures, preventing pollution and dredging dying rivers. However, the commission’s principal role is to recommend action to the government, without explicit authority to act directly or compel relevant agencies.

Separate High Court verdicts in 2016 and 2019 declared rivers “living entities”. The rulings designated the River Conservation Commission as the legal guardian of all rivers, including the Turag River, for their protection, conservation and development.

The court also directed the Planning Commission, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and all other government agencies to obtain no-objection certificates from the commission before formulating new projects involving rivers, canals, wetlands and water bodies.

According to Shipping Ministry records, the government decided to repeal and replace the existing law rather than amend it because changes had been proposed to about 76% of its provisions. The National River Conservation Commission prepared the new draft in December 2020 and sent it to the Shipping Ministry in 2021.

Four inter-ministerial meetings and three internal ministerial review meetings were held between 2022 and 2026, but the draft has yet to be finalised.

The proposed law would empower the commission to take direct action, conduct investigations and inquiries, ensure implementation of recommendations and recover compensation from polluters. The draft also proposed allowing the commission to appoint its own prosecution officers and lawyers, enforce the law, impose penalties for specified offences, apply criminal procedure and set out trial procedures.

A source at the commission said several major recommendations intended to strengthen the body had been removed in successive revisions of the draft.

The proposed law initially sought to allow the commission to declare a river or canal endangered if it faced encroachment, pollution, declining navigability, or damage to the environment, ecosystem and biodiversity. The Department of Environment objected, arguing that assigning the responsibility to two agencies would create overlapping authority.

People associated with the commission said the proposal to establish a separate river court was dropped following the Department of Environment’s objection. The department said legal remedies for such matters were already available under its jurisdiction and that a separate court under the commission could create problems.

A Shipping Ministry source said BIWTA also objected to provisions requiring project proponents to obtain the commission’s permission for river-related projects and to a proposal to make all commission members full-time.

The River Conservation Commission is required to have five members but has operated without a full complement for the past six years.

Former commission chairman Dr Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury told Ajker Patrika: “Although the commission’s scope of work is broad, it does not have effective powers. We prepared and recommended the amended law to strengthen the commission. However, I have heard that several recommendations to increase the commission’s authority have been omitted from the proposed law.”

“Reducing the number of permanent members, not providing judicial safeguards for removing the chairman and members, and failing to ensure financial independence are also concerning,” he said. “There is a risk of government pressure on the commission in carrying out its work independently.”

Dr Chowdhury said the commission must be given authority to issue effective directives to prevent river encroachment, illegal sand extraction, pollution and disruption of natural river flows. He also said the commission should be involved in international river agreements and negotiations on sharing water from transboundary rivers.

Shipping Ministry Secretary Zakaria acknowledged both the commission’s “legal limitations” and problems in its administrative structure.

“The commission was supposed to have five members, including a chairman, but it has not been fully staffed for the past six years,” Zakaria told Ajker Patrika. “A shortage of full-time members and difficulty in finding temporary members have created problems in the commission’s activities and decision-making.”

Zakaria said proposals would be sent to the Cabinet Division to increase the number of full-time members and reduce complications related to quorum requirements.

“Along with increasing legal powers to make the commission effective, its organisational structure also needs to be strengthened,” he said.