Bangladesh has 1,415 rivers and 22,000 illegal encroachers: Shipping Minister

The total number of rivers in the country is 1415. The number of these rivers has been calculated according to the list prepared with the help of the Shipping Ministry, Water Resources Ministry, National River Protection Commission, Bangladesh Water Development Board, divisional commissioners, district administration and river workers. Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam gave this information in Parliament on Thursday.

He also said that the total number of illegal encroachers in the country's rivers is 21 thousand 988.

The issue was raised at the question and answer table in the session held under the chairmanship of Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad on Thursday. In response to a question from Jamaat-e-Islami MP from Mymensingh-6 constituency Md. Kamrul Hasan, the minister said that this list of rivers was published on April 14, 2025 on the websites of the Water Resources Ministry, Bangladesh Water Development Board and National River Protection Commission.

The Shipping Minister said, "The process of amending the 'National River Protection Commission Act, 2013' is underway to protect the interests of rivers and increase the capacity of the National River Protection Commission. The proposed law has provisions to consider river encroachment and pollution as criminal offenses, establish separate river courts, investigate and investigate complaints related to river encroachment, determine and collect compensation for pollution, file cases and supervise them."

In response to a question from Munshiganj-1 MP Md. Abdullah, the Shipping Minister said that the list of illegal encroachments of the country's rivers has been updated by the National River Protection Commission. As of December 23, 2025, there are a total of 21,988 illegal encroachments in rivers across the country. All the District Commissioners (DCs) have been requested to verify this list, publish it on the website and send an action plan for evicting illegal encroachments. After receiving the evictable list, the eviction process will be carried out.

In response to a question from Jamalpur-3 MP Mostafizur Rahman Babul, the Minister of Shipping said that regular conservation dredging activities are conducted every year on important waterways to resolve the navigability crisis. Currently, the length of the navigable waterways in the dry season is 6,200 kilometers and the length of the navigable waterways in the rainy season is 8,000 kilometers.

In response to a question from Nilofar Chowdhury Moni, Member of Parliament for the reserved women's seat, the Minister of Shipping Sheikh Rabiul Alam said that through individual entrepreneurs, large-sized launches with modern facilities have been added to the passenger launch fleet compared to any time before. As a result, the number of accidents has decreased significantly.