NRCC reports 63,000 river encroachers in 64 districts

There are about 63,000 river encroachers in the 64 districts across the country, according to Mujibur Rahman Hawlader, the chairman of the National River Conservation Commission or NRCC.

He briefed the media and took questions after presenting its annual report for the year 2019 on Tuesday.

Khulna tops the list of divisions with most river encroachers - 11,245, while Sylhet has the lowest - 2,044. In Dhaka, the number is 8,890.

In the report for 2018, the commission said the number of river encroachers was over 57,000.

The authorities have removed as many 18,579 encroaching structures in the past year, according to the report, which cited a lack of manpower to free the rivers.