Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam on Saturday said that a 10 per cent holding tax rebate will be given to the owners of the buildings, which will have a rainwater harvesting facility.
The mayor was speaking as a special guest at a seminar titled "50 Years of Achievements and Futures in the Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector" at a city hotel, reports UNB.
Chaired by Senior Secretary of Local Government Division Helal Uddin Ahmed, the Seminar was organized on the occasion of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and the golden jubilee of independence.
Mayor Atiqul said Bangladesh has been able to make significant progress and success in the last 50 years in the safe water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) sector. The DNCC along with other stakeholders is working to increase public awareness about safe water, sanitation and hygiene (wash). The Corporation has already completed construction of 47 environmentally friendly and hygienic public toilets, out of 63, he said.
The mayor said the overall environment including water is being polluted due to a large number of unplanned houses of Dhaka city as sewage falls directly into drains or canals for lacking effective septic tanks and soak wells of the buildings in elite areas.
Atiqul said that modern septic tanks and soak wells have to set up in the houses of the city and keep the purification system active.
He emphasized that the purification system needs to be further strengthened by setting up area basis faecal sludge plants in the city corporation area.
He said the work of power generation from waste is in the last stage for the first time in the country under the initiative of Dhaka North City Corporation.
He also said that the Corporation is working sincerely with short, medium and long term plans to reduce waterlogging and pollution in the city.
He said the city needs multiple well-planned reservoirs to solve the waterlogging problem. But sadly, out of 173 acres of land allotted for Kalyanpur reservoir, only 3 acres have reservoirs and the remaining 170 acres are in the possession of illegal occupants. So all together have to vocal against the illegal occupiers.
The DNCC mayor further said that unplanned Dhaka has to be transformed into a liveable, healthy, vibrant and modern Dhaka.
Among others, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md. Tajul Islam and DSCC Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh addressed the seminar as chief guest and special guest respectively.