Canals, water bodies filled up: Rajuk

Canals and water bodies at Demra in the capital and Rupganj in Narayanganj are being filled up by housing companies and influential individuals, according to Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha’s probe committee report.
The report submitted to Rajuk on December 11 reveals that several canals and water bodies on the capital’s eastern side found no mention in the latest survey done by the Department of Land Records and Surveys.
During field trips the probe committee found the canals and the water bodies, says the report. 
The satellite image also shows the canals and water bodies, says the report.
The canals and water bodies were earmarked in the capital’s Detailed Area Plan, better known as DAP, as flood flow zone for the capital, says the report of the one man probe committee of deputy town planner Md Ashraful Islam.
The report says that omitting the canals and water bodies from the survey records facilitated grabbing and filling them by housing companies and influential people. 
In November, following directives from the housing and public works ministry, Rajuk assigned Ashraf to find out the latest status of the canals and water bodies in Demra andRupganj. 
During a daylong field trip on December 3, Ashraf and two assistant town planners found several stretches of Rampura Canal, Trimohoni Canal, Naray River, Manikdi Canal, Nandipara Canal and Gazaria Canal in Demra had been filled up by grabbers. 
They also found at Rupganj that housing companies set up boundary pillars at Pubgaon, Paschimgaon, Keodala, Balu Dakkhinpara, Kayetpara, Boralu Paragaon and Majhina areas by filling up canals and water bodies.
They discovered boundary pillars and earth-filling activities of housing companies on several stretches of the Gazaria Canal.
They found several houses and shops had been built by filling up Trimohoni Canal and Rampura Canal.
The probe committee recommended coordinated eviction drives by Rajuk, Dhaka WASA and the district administration to restore the canals and water bodies. 
It also recommended for acquiring private land inside the canals and water bodies for checking encroachment to facilitate uninterrupted flows of the canals. 
The committee recommended cross checking by Rajuk’s authorized officers to find out whether or not buildings were constructed by encroaching the canals and water bodies under approved plans. 
Rajuk chairman M Bazlul Karim Chaudhury told New Age that steps would be taken soon to restore the canals and water bodies.

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