MPs, leaders, businesses, among grabbers

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has reclaimed 243.95 acres land of the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Shitalakkhya and Dhaleswari by evicting over 9,200 buildings, factories and other establishments illegally developed on the rivers.

Since the agency started the eviction drive in January 2019, it demolished illegal structures owned by a state minister, two incumbent MPs of the ruling party Awami League, a former Bangladesh Nationalist Party MP, leaders of the two major parties, businesses and influential individuals.

BIWTA’s Dhaka Port office records show that 157.25 acres of land of the Buriganga, Turag and Balu were reclaimed evicting over 7,500 illegal structures owned by six AL and BNP leaders, big realtors and businesses, retired military and civil bureaucrats, influential locals and others.

BIWTA Narayanganj port office records show that 86.7 acres of land of the Shitalakkhya and Dhaleswari were reclaimed by evicting 1,617 illegal structures in Gazipur, Dhaka and Narayanganj districts.

The BIWTA officials said they filed 35 cases against different individuals and companies and also fined many others when operating mobile courts.

‘We continued the drive despite facing disturbances created by influential locals and got tremendous support from the shipping ministry and the High Court,’ BIWTA chairman commodore Golam Sadeq told New Age on Tuesday.

A High Court Division bench on February 3, 2019 declared all the rivers flowing through the country as living entities and asked authorities concerned to submit compliance reports with affidavits after freeing the rivers from the grabbers and polluters.

The HC bench also directed the national Election Commission to take measures so that river grabbers cannot contest in any national or local elections while it directed Bangladesh Bank to take steps so that river  grabbers are not allowed to take out bank loans.

‘Other than the eviction drive for freeing the rivers flowing around the capital, we did not see execution of the High Court Division’s 17-point directives,’ said Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh chairman Manzil Morshed said.

BBIWTA joint director and Dhaka port officer AKM Arif Uddin said that they demolished illegal structures on the Buriganga and Turag owned by the state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid, ruling party AL MPs Aslamul Haque and Hazi Mohammad Selim, a former BNP lawmaker Salauddin Ahmed and a BNP MP candidate for Shariatpur 2 constituency Shafiqur Rahman Kiran.

Boundary wall of Nasrul Hamid’s orchard at Dhaleswar in Keraniganj was demolished as it encroached on around 350 feet by 15 feet land of the Buriganga, he said.

Five out of 12 acres of land on the Buriganga was reclaimed from Aslamul’s occupation at Washpur of Keraniganj where he built his power plants, he claimed.

‘For reclaiming the remaining land of the river on which his rest house and an agro firm were built, a separate project would be placed as part of the restoration of 14-km main channel of the Buriganga that used to connect the Dhaleswari with the Turag,’ he said.

‘The channel does not exist anymore as hundreds of locals in north Keraniganj developed buildings on it,’ he said.

Arif said that all the illegal structures developed by Hazi Selim for his Madina Traders on the Buriganga at Nababchar had been demolished.

After demolishing a portion of former BNP MP Salauddin Ahmed’s residence at Kadamtoli, 50 feet by 15 feet Buriganga land was reclaimed,’ Arif continued.

Salauddin’s next-door neighbour Arif said, ‘The AL Kadamtali thana unit vice-president Tajul Islam also developed his residence on the river and a portion of it was demolished.

‘At Taltola Gudaraghat in Ashulia, we reclaimed 400 feet by 200 feet Turag land from BNP leader Kiran’s occupation,’ he said.

During the 13-month-long drive, Arif said, illegal structures developed by 20 councillors of the city corporations and upazila parishads under

Dhaka and Gazipur districts, including Afsar Uddin, the councillor of Uttara,  Giasuddin Sarkar of Tongi, were evicted.

The Buriganga channel grabbed by the Jatiya Sramaik League workers welfare secretary Kawsar Ahmed Palash in Fatullah and Fatullah Thana Chhatra League president Abu Mohammad Shariful Haque and Fatullah thana AL president M Saifullah Badal were recovered, he said.

BIWTA also demolished the anti-corruption commission lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal’s three-storied residential building on the bank of the Buriganga at Nababchar and also residences and rest houses of several retired high-ranked army, navy and government officials from Gabtoli to Ashulia, Arif said.

An 800 feet by 250 feet Turag channel was restored from Amin and Momin Development Limited in July after necessary dredging, he said, adding that

the realtor sold plots on 28 bigha land by grabbing river land.

The agency evicted other realtors named Madhu City, Dhaka Udyan, Afsana City, Silicon City, Western City, Basila Garden City, Turag Recreation Centre for grabbing Buriganga and Turag land, he said.

At Beraid, the boundary wall of the Bashundhara Group’s housing project on the river Balu was demolished, he said.

Despite protests, Arif said, factories, warehouses and other structures of Bashundhara Group, Ha-Meem Group, Sharmin Group, Ananda Group, Pran-RFL, Partex Group, NDE Ready Mix, Akij Group, Agrovita,  Anon Tex,  Dhaka Match Factory, Rahim Still Mill, Chaina Harbal Company, ABC, Spectra, Domino, Navana and other businesses were removed.

Anwar Group voluntarily removed its factory built on illegally occupied land of the Turag channel at Pagarpar near Ashulia while ACI Salt, Scan Cement, Lafarge-Holcim Bangladesh Limited, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Ltd, City Group, ACI, CEMEX Cement Bangladesh Ltd, Akij Group and Bashundhara Group voluntarily removed their illegal structures from the Shitalakkhya in Narayanganj, BIWTA officials said.

Some houses and structures like Ananda Group chairman’s rest house could not be evicted for pending cases with the HC, commodore Golam Sadeq said.

‘There are some government, army, navy and BIWTA projects on the rivers,’ he said,

adding that the agency had no immediate plan to evict grabbers from the Buriganga channel flowing from Kamrangirchar to Tongi via Basila.

State minister for power Nasrul Hamid claimed none of the establishment owned by him was evicted.

‘Tell the official who claimed that my boundary wall was removed to produce the document that may prove my ownership,’ Nasrul said.

Lawmaker Aslamul refused to talk on the issue while Hazi Selim claimed that ‘BIWTA illegally demolished his legal properties.’

Former MP Salauddin said he was a victim of politics.

Bashundhara Group’s media adviser Mohammad Abu Tayeb said that the company built its projects only on purchased lands.

State minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said no grabber would be spared. ‘A committee is working to ensure relocation of the religious and educational institutes developed on the rivers,’ he said.

‘We will make the rivers free from pollution and grabbing,’ he claimed.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net