Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to demolish 13 establishments constructed illegally along the banks of Turag, Buriganga, Sitalakkhya and Balu rivers those crisscrossed in and around capital Dhaka.
The decision was taken at the 33rd meeting of the taskforce on restoring river navigability at Secretariat in the city on Sunday.
“We have identified a large number of illegal establishments constructed along the banks of four rivers. And these will be demolished in phases. But 13 illegal establishments will be demolished immediately,” Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan told reporters after the meeting.
He warned that whatever powerful the grabbers might be, their illegal establishments would be demolished with iron hand.
“Many of the 13 illegal establishment owners own big companies. We have already obtained the names of the owners of illegal establishments. We are going to demolish their structures immediately,” Shajahan Khan said.
He said that they would do everything to free all the rivers from illegal encroachments in phases. “These structures were developed encroaching the Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Balu and Turag rivers,” he said.
Replying to a query, the Shipping Minister said they do not want to disclose the identity of the owners of 13 illegal structures right now in order to evade legal obstacles.He said the taskforce will enforce a temporary ban on land development and construction works within 120 feet of the demarcation pillars until completion of a re-survey of the four rivers by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA). The government will issue a gazette notification in this regard (ban) soon.
Mentionable, the taskforce had earlier demolished a number of illegal structures along the four rivers. It also installed boundary pillars of the Buriganga and Shitalakkhya rivers.
“The taskforce will collect the original river boundary pillars design from the Land Ministry and will send it to the concerned Deputy Commissioners’ offices in next one week for disposal of some disputes over the demarcation pillars,” the Shipping Minister said. According to meeting sources, some 458 complaints have been pending for disposal in DC offices against 4,063 demarcation pillars. The meeting decided to form a ‘citizen committee’ with participation of local eminent citizens for creating awareness among the people against the river encroachment, he said.
Water Resources Minister Barrister Anisul Islam, Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju, Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif, Sanjida Khanam MP, and high officials concerned of BIWTA, among others, were present
The taskforce comprising representatives of concerned Ministries and Organisaitons like navy and law enforcement agencies alongside lawmakers and non-government environmental watchdogs was constituted in 2010 under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directives.
Earlier, a total 4,063 boundary pillars had been installed at the banks of Buriganga, Sitalakhya, Balu, Turag and Dholeswari rivers. Of the pillars, 422 were not set up at the right place, 264 damaged, 148 not visible and 36 pillars were not found. At Buriganga River, from Sadarghat to Postagola and Sadarghat to Ramchandrapur, numerous establishments have been built on the river banks and many establishments are now under construction encroaching into the space of the river. On November 9, the High Court directed the government to stop earth filling, encroachment and construction of structures along the foreshores of the Turag river within 48 hours and submit a report to it by November 27 after complying with the order. Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakkhya and Balu have failed miserably to stop the rampant encroachment and mindless pollution of the water bodies.
The four rivers in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Munshiganj revealed fresh encroachment and the unchecked discharge of untreated toxic waste into the rivers.
The Department of Environment collected samples from the country’s major rivers, including of the four rivers, to prepare its River Water Quality Report in 2010.
According to the River Water Quality reports, during the dry season (from January to May), the level of Dissolved Oxygen in Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya rivers was nil at almost all points of sample collection when the standard level of DO for fisheries is greater than or equal to 5mg per litre.
Besides, a recent study of UNDP on water quality of the four rivers observed the security of water supply to the Dhaka city and its fishery was seriously endangered by the deteriorating water quality of the rivers.
It also found that most liquid waste was discharged untreated into the rivers while regulations were openly flouted and the regulators often felt unable to take due measures against the practice. Green activists continued to warn that Dhaka would be an abandoned city in the future unless immediate steps are taken to check ongoing rampant water pollution and river-grabbing around the capital. Apart from river grabbing, they said, untreated chemical and solid waste are being dumped in the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya rivers, destroying the ecosystem of the rivers.
According to experts, about 22,000 cubic metres of untreated toxic waste from tanneries in the city’s Hazaribagh is released into Buriganga daily. If the trend of water pollution continues, he said, Dhaka will turn into an unlivable city within the next 20 years for lack of freshwater.
