Reza Mahmud :
Many portions of the embankment on the bank of the river Buriganga from Shikdar Medical College at Hazaribagh to Babubazar Bridge area in the city is now under illegal occupiers.
This embankment road reportedly always remained jam because of the indiscriminate building of various temporary and semi-pucca structures on the road as well as roadside lands.
But the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has failed to make any effective drive to free the embankment from the grabbers, though it had earlier announced to start an eviction drive to ease traffic movement on the road.
“People of the area have been waiting for long to get the road back from illegal occupiers for smooth movement of vehicles,” said Ahmad Ullah, a businessman living near the embankment area in Hazaribagh.
On January 22, the DSCC announced that they would start an eviction drive on the embankment against the illegal grabbers on February 9. But the corporation is yet to start the drive. It makes us unhappy and anxious, he said. The embankment first built in 1990’s on the bank of river Buriganga from Hazaribagh to Gabtoli to protect the capital city from river erosion. In 2002, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) built a road on the embankment. In 2008, the responsibility of the embankment road was handed over to the Roads and Highways Department. The road has now become very shrink to drive vehicles due to huge grabbing in lands of the road.
“Many places of the road have been narrowed down as makeshift shops, track stand and other establishments have been built on the embankment. When vehicles pass through the road, vehicles from opposite side need to stop aside due to shortage of space. It kills our huge time everyday,” said Abdul Haque, a bus driver of the area.
Most of the grabbers occupied lands of the road in Kamrangirchar, Hazaribagh and Rayerbazar areas. They built shops, garages, saw mills and track stands. In many places the occupiers built buildings for commercial use.
They also grabbed the lands of Buriganga river by building houses. The people of those areas demanded long to the authority to make the road free from grabbers. They urged the city corporation to get them rid of their untold sufferings because of gridlock.
In this situation, Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon announced that the City Corporation will start an eviction drive on the embankment on February 9. He said that the DSCC will operate the drive in around five kilometers from Shikdar Medical College Hospital in Hazaribagh to Babubazar Bridge area.
He made the announcement after a meeting with Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka, officials of Dhaka Water Supply Authority (WASA) and other departments on January 22 at Nagar Bhaban.
He also announced that they would evict the grabbers from Nandipara canal on February 6. The City Corporation has operated the eviction drive in Nandipara canal in the city on the day.
Sources said, some influential persons are among the illegal grabbers in the embankment. That is why the City Corporation is yet to start the eviction drive. But the DSCC Mayor refused that allegation.
When contacted, DSCC Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon said, “Whenever we try to evict the illegal occupiers, then some of them file cases in courts against us to stop the work. They are the vested quarters of the society. We are determined to evict them from the embankment soon.”
