Buriganga Riverkeeper arranges various field trips to attract and engage stakeholders and professionals with the protection efforts. We take them to the river by the patrol boat of Buriganga Riverkeeper mostly and explain the practical situation of encroachment and pollution. We call our guests to come forward from their own position along with possible contribution to protect the river. We offer multiple forums and platforms for them to feel ownership of the river and this citizen’s initiative. The aim of this spot visits are to keep the stakeholders updated about the disastrous condition of the river, so that they are engaged more deeply for river protection movement. From the very beginning, Buriganga Riverkeeper has been arranging this type of field trips on a regular basis for government agencies, researchers, national and international NGOs, partners, students, volunteers and journalists.
Like other stakeholders, Buriganga Riverkeeper always welcomes journalists in this initiative. Journalists can play very effective and instrumental to bring issues to public attention that can put pressure on pertinent stakes to come forward to protect the precious resources. As a part of this continuous program, Buriganga Riverkeeper arranged a Buriganga trip for journalists on April 6, 2016. The river trip started from Basila by Buriganga Riverkeeper boat. During this two-hour trip, journalists were shown the untreated pollutants’ discharge points of tannery, faulty demarcation pillars, ongoing river encroachment and the full grabbing of the 2nd channel from River Buriganga. The Buriganga Riverkeeper, Sharif Jamil accompanied the team and shared his observations with journalists. The ASM Rejuan Parag, Field Operations Personnel of Buriganga Riverkeeper, Manik Bepari, leader of Buriganga Community Forum and local volunteers also joined the trip.