A similar law was enacted in 2000 to protect playgrounds, open spaces, gardens and natural water bodies but it focuses on the capital, divisional headquarters, district towns and municipal areas. That law does not cover all aspects of the rivers, canals and water bodies in areas beyond the cities and towns, according to sources.

The proposed law would provide the authorities concerned with legal power to recover occupied lands by removing encroachments on water bodies and prohibit installation of any permanent structure within 50 metres from the bank of a river.

A cabinet committee headed by Water Resources Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed is now preparing the draft of the law titled "Rivers, Canals, Flood-flow Zones and Water Body Preservation, Development, Recover and Encroachment Control Act 2004."

The seven-member committee has been given three months to complete the draft. The water resources ministry is expected to submit it by December 17 this year to the cabinet along with the committee's recommendations.

"Restriction may be slapped on construction of permanent structures on private land within a certain distance from a river in order to check erosion and prevent encroachments on water bodies," Water Resource Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said after the first meeting of the committee held yesterday.

According to the draft law, none would be allowed to create any barrier to the natural water flow in rivers or canals for personal interests. The law would empower the authority to remove any encroachment on the water bodies.

It says none would be allowed to erect any permanent structure on water bodies without prior permission from the authority, which would be given the legal power to remove such structures on rivers or riverbanks, canals and in the flood flow zones.

If any landowner erects any structure on his land in the prohibited zone on the riverbanks, legal actions will be taken against him, the draft law says.

For setting up launch terminals, ghats or any other infrastructure for the interest of the people, the government department concerned will have to seek permission from higher authority through deputy commissioner of the district concerned.

Under the strict provisions of the act, setting up of under-water gas pipelines and installation of telephone cables would require prior permission of the ministry concerned. Dredging of rivers would also need prior approval.

The district administration being informed by any person of the locality about any encroachment would serve notice to the illegal encroachers to remove the structure within seven days at his own expenditure. On default, the administration would take initiative to remove the illegal structures and file criminal cases against the encroachers.

According to the draft law, district administrations would also survey the riverbanks in every two years to observe whether there was any illegal structure.