Bangshi comes back to life as encroachers evicted

The Bangshi River had lost its normal course due to mindless encroachment on its banks at Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, through illegal constructions, business establishments, and unchecked pollution. 

However, the upazila administration has recently almost completely freed it from encroachment.

Through the development, the river not only got its occupied bank back but also raised the hope of lowering pollution to a large extent.

In order to keep the river free from further encroachment, stakeholders and experts have urged the authorities concerned to work in coordination and take prompt measures. 

Savar upazila sources said the High Court on December 2, 2019, had ordered the Bangshi River banks at Savar to be freed from illegal occupation and pollution within 60 days.  

On September 28, last year, the district administration tasked five executive magistrates with this task.

In a two-day drive ending on September 29, 2022, the magistrates recovered almost three acres of occupied land on the river banks. Another five acres of land belonging to the river were recovered in the next two days.

As many as 286 land-grabbers were evicted in the four days of special drives to free the river.  

Later on, the district administration of Dhaka, Savar Upazila and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority jointly demarcated the boundary of the river and erected barbed-wire fences on the freed land.   

Mentionable, the country saw a massive campaign against river encroachment in early 2019 after the High Court on February 3 of that year, in a historic judgment, declared rivers a legal entity. 

On November 21, 2021, the High Court ordered the authorities concerned to make a list of rivers in Bangladesh and make division-wise plans to free them from encroachment.

Dhaka Tribune

This reporter visited the Bangshi River banks in Namar Bazar, Noyar Haat and some other areas of Savar on Sunday to get a glimpse of the freed lands. 

Local Deen Islam said there was a time when they could hardly visit the banks as they were encroached on. 

"But now, we can roam freely and enjoy nature here," he said. 

Milon Sarkar of Nama Bazar said the freed part of the river banks needs to be excavated immediately as it will be filled up through siltation.

He hopes that the river banks will not be occupied again if the government offices concerned work together and stay vigilant. 

Describing how they removed the illegal occupation, Savar's Upazila Nirbahi Upazila (UNO) Md Majharul Islam said they demarcated the land of the river and those belonging to local markets through a land survey. 

"If we want to keep the river banks occupation-free, a number of measures, including the construction of walkways and the excavation of the river, are needed. And for these, different departments of the government must step forward," the UNO suggested. 

Landgrabbers, he said, tried to reoccupy the river banks but failed due to speedy measures by the upazila administration. 

"We are keeping an eye on the recovered river banks so the encroachers cannot occupy them again," he said. 

Jamal Uddin, chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Jahangirnagar University, said that a river is like a running road and is a flowing stream of water. 

"If we fill up or encroach on a river, it shrinks, and the natural flow of water is hampered, thus adversely affecting the environment", he said.

"Those who free rivers must involve locals in this work. If we do not identify the miscreants who fill the rivers, bring them to justice, and make locals take care of the rivers, the recovery of any river will not benefit us", he said.

"In doing so, all the government departments related to rivers must work together while motivating the people. Only then can this problem be solved," Jamal Uddin concluded.

National River Conservation Commission Chairman Manjur A Chowdhury, lauding the Savar upazila administration for freeing the river banks, said: "We've noticed recently that encroachers yet again tried to occupy the banks.  

"If we want to stop them, all government offices linked to rivers must work in coordination. On this front, I will help sue the troublemakers upon receiving information on them," he said. 

"A heinous instinct has grown in a vested quarter to occupy and pollute rivers. Some influential people are behind the criminal acts", he added.