United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka

Green activists in Natore on Thursday urged the government to save the River Narad from pollution and encroachment.

They made the call at a human chain and a seminar jointly organised by Parisbesh Bachao Andolan and Shathi Sangathan at Chandpur Bazar in Natore, said a release received in Dhaka.

Paba chairman Abu Naser Khan, Shathi Sangathan executive director Shibli Sadek, Nida executive director Jahanara Beauty, SIDS executive director SM Habibur Rahman, Mahila Parishad president Dilara Begum Parul and Paba programme officer Atiq Morshed, among others, spoke at the programme.

Narad, the lifeline of Natore, emerges from the River Musakha in Rajshahi and crosses Natore town before falling into another river in Pabna. 

Narad is one of the numerous rivers in the country that are already dead or will die soon, as their beds have been silted up, their flows narrowed down by encroachments and chemical and other wastes have been incessantly dumped into them, they said.

Once an abundant source of fish and water for irrigation, the Narad now has nothing for the 1.5 million residents of Natore, Paba chairman Abu Naser Khan said.