Anisur Rahman Khan :
Though the authority concerned has taken steps to restore the Adi Channel of Buriganga River from illegal occupants, but long absence of inaction helped rampant encroachment, pollutions and grabbing through filling up bothsides of the riverbanks of the Adi Channel pushed into a dyeing river in the old part of Dhaka.
It is alleged that a section of unscrupulous people, with the help of some local land officials and local influential political groups, are involved in grabbing the Adi Channel of River Buriganga .
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has started to evict illegal structures as per directives of the High Court (HC) around the Adi Channel of Buriganga River.
According to sources, two city corporations of Dhaka entrusted to beautify the areas including installation of various structures to attract tourist on the reclaimed land of the Adi Channel of Buriganga River.
However, the green activists have urged the authorities concerned to free the Adi Channel of the River Buriganga from encroachment by the government and the
non-government bodies immediately considering the importance of the health, environment and economy of the capital city Dhaka.
According to green activists, the original channel of the Buriganga River, which has been flowing down the city ever since it was built 400 years ago by the Mughals in their capital of the eastern part of their empire, is under threat today.
Moreover, the polluted, stinking water flowing down these rivers is spreading a foul smell around and has turned into such a public health hazard, and hence, nobody dares take a dip in their waters.
Brisk construction activities today occupy most of the rivers’ banks clearly in violation of the wetland and environment laws. And, the saddest part is that all this is happening right under the nose of law enforcers, Abdus Sobhan, General Secretary of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) told this correspondent.
Most of the portion of the Adi Channel has already been grabbed by influential groups and developed housing plots in Basila areas, he added.
Besides, medical college, private hospital, clinics, schools, electric office, power station, residences and shopping centers are also constructed filling up the Adi Channel of the River Buriganga, Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of POBA said.
He said, “We welcome the eviction drives, but it is not enough. The authority concerned should have to ensure to protect the reclaimed lands and river through dredging-so that launch owners could ply their water vessels round the year.”
The reclaimed land will be handsover to the city corportaion authorities as they have plans to turned the riverbanks into a recreation centres by planting trees and setting up eco-parks, Wakil Newaz, Director (Port) of the BIWTA told The New Nation on Friday.
According to Newaz, “About 130 acres of land reclaimed of the banks of Buriganga and Turag Rivers from encroachment through eviction drives since January 29, 2019 to February this year. At least 11,000 illegal structures evicted so far during eviction drives.”
According to a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), at least 90 per cent of the wetlands in and around the capital have dwindled rapidly over the past decade.
“This has contributed to the complete disappearance of 54 species of fish, impacted the ecological balance, and greatly imperiled the flood flow zones,” the survey adds.
A sizeable portion of the wetlands in Kamrangirchar, Ashulia, Tongi, Mirpur, Gabtali, Basila, Savar, Amin Bazar, Mohammadpur, Badda, Satarkul, Khilkhet, Rampura, Dakkhin and Uttarkhan has already fallen prey to influential real estate groups and developers, since there is no regulatory body.
The loss of wetlands has resulted in serious water-logging problems for the city’s residents, while production of food-grains has also plummeted over the years.
