Reza Mahmud :
At least 26 canals, once used to flow through the capital Dhaka and added the city its lifeline, are now near to disappearance due to rampant encroachment and indiscriminate waste dumping.
While the influential quarters have been gradually grabbing the canals, the reckless people are using them as an open dustbin on the nose of the concerned authorities, leading the water flowing channels on the verge of extinction.
These powerful persons have also built lots of buildings, shops, garages and steel bridges after occupying canals’ lands, it was alleged.
This situation has led the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) to conduct eviction drives against all illegal encroachments. The corporation announced the decision on January 22 after a meeting with the officials of the concerned agencies.
“We will start eviction drives to free the canals from grabbers and make those clean from waste,” a DSCC official told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the concern agencies have also taken a similar move in the recent past but it did not yield any positive outcome.
“Because, the drives were conducted haphazardly without coordination among the agencies concerned,” he added.
The official, however, said that this time we would conduct the drive with an utmost coordination of all agencies to make the effort a success.
However, a Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) official expressed pessimism over the success of the upcoming drives.
“How the drive would be successful when many government offices have built structures grabbing lands of the canals,” he questioned, “Besides, many influential persons have already recorded a significant portion of the canals’ lands as their personal property.”
According to Dhaka WASA, there are 26 canals in Dhaka city. Among them seven canals are in DSC area. But the Dhaka District Administration said that there are in total 11 canals under DSCC. They identified some canals divided into two parts and then concluded the numbers as 11.
“We are regularly operating eviction drives to drive out the grabbers and clear the garbage of the canals. But the problem is the grabber found come back soon and reckless people used to throw waste to the canals,” WASA Managing Director Engineer Taqsem A. Khan told The New Nation on Sunday.
“We will recover the canals at any cost because it is necessary to maintain ecological balance as well as remove water logging in the city,” DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon told The New Nation yesterday
The mayor said he got the nod from the Prime Minister’s Office to make the eviction drive successful and sustainable.
The DSCC will launch its eviction drives from the Nandipara Trimohini canal. Segun Bagicha canal may be cleared by WASA in the second week of February.
The canals which are near to disappear include Kajla Canal of Jatrabari, Khilgaon Basabo canal, Dholai Khal, Segun Bagicha canal, Katasur canal of Mohammadpur, Ibrahimpur canal, Diabari canal and Trimohini canal.
At least 26 canals, once used to flow through the capital Dhaka and added the city its lifeline, are now near to disappearance due to rampant encroachment and indiscriminate waste dumping.
While the influential quarters have been gradually grabbing the canals, the reckless people are using them as an open dustbin on the nose of the concerned authorities, leading the water flowing channels on the verge of extinction.
These powerful persons have also built lots of buildings, shops, garages and steel bridges after occupying canals’ lands, it was alleged.
This situation has led the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) to conduct eviction drives against all illegal encroachments. The corporation announced the decision on January 22 after a meeting with the officials of the concerned agencies.
“We will start eviction drives to free the canals from grabbers and make those clean from waste,” a DSCC official told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the concern agencies have also taken a similar move in the recent past but it did not yield any positive outcome.
“Because, the drives were conducted haphazardly without coordination among the agencies concerned,” he added.
The official, however, said that this time we would conduct the drive with an utmost coordination of all agencies to make the effort a success.
However, a Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) official expressed pessimism over the success of the upcoming drives.
“How the drive would be successful when many government offices have built structures grabbing lands of the canals,” he questioned, “Besides, many influential persons have already recorded a significant portion of the canals’ lands as their personal property.”
According to Dhaka WASA, there are 26 canals in Dhaka city. Among them seven canals are in DSC area. But the Dhaka District Administration said that there are in total 11 canals under DSCC. They identified some canals divided into two parts and then concluded the numbers as 11.
“We are regularly operating eviction drives to drive out the grabbers and clear the garbage of the canals. But the problem is the grabber found come back soon and reckless people used to throw waste to the canals,” WASA Managing Director Engineer Taqsem A. Khan told The New Nation on Sunday.
“We will recover the canals at any cost because it is necessary to maintain ecological balance as well as remove water logging in the city,” DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon told The New Nation yesterday
The mayor said he got the nod from the Prime Minister’s Office to make the eviction drive successful and sustainable.
The DSCC will launch its eviction drives from the Nandipara Trimohini canal. Segun Bagicha canal may be cleared by WASA in the second week of February.
The canals which are near to disappear include Kajla Canal of Jatrabari, Khilgaon Basabo canal, Dholai Khal, Segun Bagicha canal, Katasur canal of Mohammadpur, Ibrahimpur canal, Diabari canal and Trimohini canal.
