River re-demarcation stalled due to repeated transfer of duty

Two years already have passed since the initiative to re-demarcate Turag, Buriganga, Balu and Shitalakhya was taken, but the encroachment of the rivers has continued due to the inactivity of the authorities concerned. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), in 2014, decided to re-demarcate the rivers with the help of Shipping Ministry and offices of the deputy commissioners in Dhaka and Gazipur, but no such step has yet been taken. Bangladesh Navy has been authorised to re-demarcate the rivers. During a visit to the banks of the encroached rivers on October 9, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said: “Out of 6,000 pillars installed for demarcation of Turag, Buriganga, Balu and Shitalakhya rivers, 2000 have been installed faultily. The task force is working with highest power to resolve the issue as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed to reclaim the rivers from grabbers at any cost. The disputed demarcation pillars will be re-installed after a survey. “After the re-demarcation is completed, driveways and walkways will be constructed on the river banks.” Shajahan Khan, also chief of the task force monitoring the rivers, said the occupied portions of all the rivers surrounding the capital would be recovered and legal action taken, no matter how powerful the grabbers were. Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, also a member of the task force who attended the visit on that day, said that he would recommend that the task force enlarge the Turag’s wideness up to 400 feet from the existing 180 feet. The river was originally 1,500 feet wide but has now taken the shape of a canal because of continuous encroachment. In 2011, Gazipur district administration wrongly demarcated the river by setting up pillars at low-water marks, thus excluding much of the riverbed. BIWTA sources said around 600 acres of riverbank lands, stretching from Tongi to Aminbazar, had been grabbed. In November 2014, former BIWTA chairman Dr Md Samsuddoha Khandaker told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision to set up demarcation pillars in the middle of the rivers was a wrong step. Attempts have also been made by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and Bangladesh Water Development Board to recover occupied lands but in vain. In July 2014, the Supreme Court ordered to remove all structures – excluding those set up by the government to serve public interests – erected on the banks of the four rivers. Back in 2009, the High Court ordered to remove all illegal structures and set up demarcation pillars in accordance with the CS and RS survey. The court observed that the pillars were to be placed 150 feet away from the river slope.