Staff Reporter :
The Supreme Court (SC) in its full verdict released on Tuesday ordered the BGMEA to demolish its 16-storey illegal Bhaban in Dhaka immediately at its own cost.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division while passing the order asked the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to demolish the illegal building in 90 days if BGMEA does not do it.
The Appellate Division on June 4 upheld a High Court verdict that had directed authorities concerned to demolish the structure as it was constructed illegally.
The BGMEA Bhaban was built without obtaining environmental clearance certificate on Dhaka’s two canals– Hatirjheel and Begunbari.
However, the BGMEA took site clearance for constructing the building. As per the site clearance certificate, the BGMEA was supposed to construct an industrial building. But the BGMEA building was not constructed for industrial purposes.
The ownership of the land of the building was transferred illegally by Export Promotion Bureau in 2001, although the bureau got the ownership of the land in 2006.
The building was constructed without bringing any change to the nature of the Begunbari-Hatirjheel canal.
For this reason, the Supreme Court declared the building illegal and directed the authorities to demolish it.
Earlier in April 2011, the HC ordered the authorities to demolish the building in the Begunbari-Hatirjheel canal within three months, saying it was built on a land acquired through forgery and filling the water body illegally with earth.
Later, the SC stayed the HC order upon a petition filed by the BGMEA.
The BGMEA building has been situated in the way of the storm drainage system — one of the Hatirjheel integrated scheme’s prime objectives — to drain stormwater out of Paribagh, Karwan Bazar and Eskaton, according to the relevant technical experts.
Dhaka’s master plan earmarks the Begunbari canal as a natural water body and a designated flood flow zone, prohibiting any change to its character.
The much-hyped Hatirjheel-Begunbari integrated development scheme was opened in January 2013 with the illegal building standing boldly right in the middle of the Begunbari canal.
The HC in 2011 said that the records submitted by the office of deputy commissioner of Dhaka proved that the land was acquired for the then East Bengal Railway in 1910 and it was under the possession of the Bangladesh Railway until 2006.
The railway authorities handed over the land to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in 2006. Surprisingly, it was found in the documents submitted by the BGMEA that it purchased the land from the EPB in 2001.
The HC delivered the judgment after hearing a suo moto rule issued by another HC bench taking cognizance of a newspaper report in October 2010.
The full text of the HC judgment, released in March 2013, observed that the BGMEA building stood in Hatirjheel project “like a cancerous growth” and structures like these would swamp the whole city unless the building was removed forthwith.
The court also ordered the authorities to pull the building down and use the land in the public interest and directed the BGMEA to provide refunds to the people who bought floor spaces in the building.
Rajuk issued land use clearance while the Department of Environment issued environmental clearance and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) gave clearance for the building in the canal. Civil Aviation Authorities also issued the height clearance.
Besides those clearances, the BGMEA authorities needed to obtain building approval from Rajuk, which they did not. Rajuk only served one notice on the BGMEA authorities about this in more than a decade of the building’s existence.
Various environmental and civic groups time and again demanded that the government should take steps to knock the illegal BGMEA building down.
The SC said the water body, where the BGMEA building was constructed, was filled up in violation of the Wetlands Conservation Act.
The Supreme Court (SC) in its full verdict released on Tuesday ordered the BGMEA to demolish its 16-storey illegal Bhaban in Dhaka immediately at its own cost.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division while passing the order asked the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to demolish the illegal building in 90 days if BGMEA does not do it.
The Appellate Division on June 4 upheld a High Court verdict that had directed authorities concerned to demolish the structure as it was constructed illegally.
The BGMEA Bhaban was built without obtaining environmental clearance certificate on Dhaka’s two canals– Hatirjheel and Begunbari.
However, the BGMEA took site clearance for constructing the building. As per the site clearance certificate, the BGMEA was supposed to construct an industrial building. But the BGMEA building was not constructed for industrial purposes.
The ownership of the land of the building was transferred illegally by Export Promotion Bureau in 2001, although the bureau got the ownership of the land in 2006.
The building was constructed without bringing any change to the nature of the Begunbari-Hatirjheel canal.
For this reason, the Supreme Court declared the building illegal and directed the authorities to demolish it.
Earlier in April 2011, the HC ordered the authorities to demolish the building in the Begunbari-Hatirjheel canal within three months, saying it was built on a land acquired through forgery and filling the water body illegally with earth.
Later, the SC stayed the HC order upon a petition filed by the BGMEA.
The BGMEA building has been situated in the way of the storm drainage system — one of the Hatirjheel integrated scheme’s prime objectives — to drain stormwater out of Paribagh, Karwan Bazar and Eskaton, according to the relevant technical experts.
Dhaka’s master plan earmarks the Begunbari canal as a natural water body and a designated flood flow zone, prohibiting any change to its character.
The much-hyped Hatirjheel-Begunbari integrated development scheme was opened in January 2013 with the illegal building standing boldly right in the middle of the Begunbari canal.
The HC in 2011 said that the records submitted by the office of deputy commissioner of Dhaka proved that the land was acquired for the then East Bengal Railway in 1910 and it was under the possession of the Bangladesh Railway until 2006.
The railway authorities handed over the land to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in 2006. Surprisingly, it was found in the documents submitted by the BGMEA that it purchased the land from the EPB in 2001.
The HC delivered the judgment after hearing a suo moto rule issued by another HC bench taking cognizance of a newspaper report in October 2010.
The full text of the HC judgment, released in March 2013, observed that the BGMEA building stood in Hatirjheel project “like a cancerous growth” and structures like these would swamp the whole city unless the building was removed forthwith.
The court also ordered the authorities to pull the building down and use the land in the public interest and directed the BGMEA to provide refunds to the people who bought floor spaces in the building.
Rajuk issued land use clearance while the Department of Environment issued environmental clearance and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) gave clearance for the building in the canal. Civil Aviation Authorities also issued the height clearance.
Besides those clearances, the BGMEA authorities needed to obtain building approval from Rajuk, which they did not. Rajuk only served one notice on the BGMEA authorities about this in more than a decade of the building’s existence.
Various environmental and civic groups time and again demanded that the government should take steps to knock the illegal BGMEA building down.
The SC said the water body, where the BGMEA building was constructed, was filled up in violation of the Wetlands Conservation Act.
