Permission sought to demolish MP’s rest house, agro firm

Bangladesh Inland Water Authority on Wednesday demarcated five acres of land of the Buriganga channel by digging a narrow trench along the ruling party lawmaker Md Aslamul Haque’s three power plants compound in Basila ignoring his protest.

The executive magistrate of the eviction team SM Shah Habibur Rahman Hakim said that they created an 800 feet long trench inside Aslamul’s power plant compound on the western side of the river and demolished 15 illegal structures to clear the land.

Awami League MP for Dhaka 14 constituency continued to bicker and threaten the whole day to save the illegally grabbed land of the river located near the confluence of the Buriganga and the Turag at Washpur in Basila, he said.

‘As we started our scheduled eviction drive on Wednesday morning for reclaiming five acres of the Buriganga channel occupied for years by the lawmaker for developing his power plants, he rushed to the spot and ordered to stop the drive using his clout,’ Hakim said.

Aslamul and his men also created similar troubles when the drive began at the place on Tuesday despite the fact that they encroached on 150 feet land area inside the 800-foot-long river channel on its western side, Hakim said.

‘Till Wednesday evening, we could not convince the lawmaker. We kept saying we followed the cadastral survey map in reclaiming the boundary of the river in accordance with the High Court Division order,’ he added.

Hakim also said that a shipping ministry formed committee led by Dhaka’s additional deputy commissioner also found that Aslamul’s power plants encroached on the river.

The committee presented the report to the shipping ministry last November as BIWTA sought permission from the ministry for reclaiming grabbed land of the river from Aslamul’s possession for developing a circular waterway connecting five rivers of Dhaka, BIWTA joint director AKM Arif Uddin told New Age on Wednesday.

‘Through an auction, we will sell sands used for grabbing the Buriganga for developing power plants,’ he said.

Arif, also Dhaka port officer, said that after analysing maps, documents and a visit to the site, the agency found that the lawmaker also developed a rest house and agro firm grabbing the main Buriganga channel that used to carry water from the River Dhaleswari to the Turag at Washpur, Basila.

‘The lawmaker grabbed almost 1,000 feet long and 450 feet wide portion of the main channel for structures built inside his power plant compound,’ Arif said, adding that Aslamul misused the power plant development permission to grab a huge areas of the Buriganga channels at the eastern and  northern sides of the electricity compound.

‘We will place a separate proposal to the shipping ministry for reclaiming the 12 km long and 450 feet wide Buriganga main channel for connecting it with the Dhaleswari,’ he said.

The whole channel is now occupied by Aslamul and hundreds of influential locals from Washpur towards the west to Hazratpur in Northern Keraniganj where Amanullah Bridge on the Dhaleswari was located, Arif said.

Aslamul admitted that he and hundreds of other grabbers were responsible for the loss of the main channel of the Buriganga that used to flow from Dhaleswari to the Turag.

‘But, the channel does not exist any longer. I will voluntarily give up possession if the government can reclaim the channel from all the other grabbers,’ Aslamul said.

Aslamul also claimed that he would not renounce possession of the land that he purchased from individuals for developing Dhaka North Power Utility Company Limited and Dhaka West Power Limited near his existing CLC Power Plant at Washpur unless BIWTA followed the ministry formed committee’s demarcation map.

‘I have all legal documents. I will go to the shipping ministry tomorrow as BIWTA did not show me the demarcation map produced by the committee last year,’ he claimed.

‘I want to know why they demolished the jetty used for carrying fuel for the plants,’ Aslamul said.

‘BIWTA gave me permission for developing the jetty,’ he said.

According to the Power Development Board’s records the Maisha Group, owned by Aslamul, had plans to build the two unsolicited power plants — Dhaka North Power Utility Company Limited and Dhaka West Power Limited — in Gabtoli in 2011.

The PDB records also show that in 2016 Maisha Group renewed the contracts on the plea that the two power plants would be built at Washpur where it developed CLC power plant with a capacity of producing 108 megawatt electricity.

But, the electricity produced in the plant is not added to the national power grid, PDB officials said.

Locals said that Aslamul forcibly grabbed the lands of some individuals and the Buriganga for setting up three power plants.

The shipping secretary Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury said that the eviction drive at Aslamul’s plants was initiated as per the plan.

‘We will also proceed for recovering the lost main channel of the Buriganga known as the lifeline of the capital for augmenting fresh water from the Dhaleswari,’ he said adding the project would improve quality of the  river water.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net