Staff Reporter :
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) on Tuesday sealed off the BGMEA Complex prior to demolishing the 15-storey building which was built illegally in the Hatirjheel Lake.
Connections of utility services to the building were also snapped.
In the morning, law enforcers and bulldozers appeared in the BGMEA Complex in a move to bring the building down.
Rajuk officials also asked tenants to vacate the BGMEA Complex by 5pm and to move their valuables from the building by this time.
“We have taken all preparations to demolish the BGMEA building. It will be demolished by using controlled demolition method,” ASM Raihanul Ferdous, Project Director of Hatirjheel Lake told media.
He said, “We will demolish the building with the help of Chinese experts. They have already visited the building.”
Rajuk sent a letter to Hatirjheel project director on Monday night to take steps for demolishing the building following a 2011 High Court order that termed the structure a ‘cancer’. But last year, the top court gave BGMEA time till April 12, 2019, to demolish the building.
“Rajuk is fully-prepared to knock the building down,” Rajuk’s Executive Magistrate Jasmine Akhter told media.
She said it would take seven days to completely demolish the BGMEA building, which housed the headquarters of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and several other organizations.
“First, we will demolish the building part-by-part; then, we will detonate dynamite and use bulldozers to knock down it altogether,” she said
When asked, Jasmine Akhter said that they have taken adequate measures to ensure the safety of the people during the procedure.
