The government has violated the High Court’s directives while setting up river boundary pillars along the Turag and Balu rivers, enabling land grabbers to encroach upon the rivers within the legal framework.
The finding was made by a government-led committee on river management, which also said a High Court directive on demarcating river boundary was not followed by the district administrations concerned in most cases.
The committee, led by Md Rofiul Alam, joint secretary of the Land Ministry, submitted its field visit report to the River Taskforce under the Shipping Ministry on August 12.
“We have already submitted the report to the Shipping Ministry, stating the inconsistency in setting up river boundary pillars in the Turag and Balu rivers,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The committee also mentioned some names of encroachers who managed to grab land beside the rivers because of faulty erection of the pillars, he added.
Citing different spots on the riverbank, the committee said in most cases the district administrations concerned had considered the lean season’s river flow as the river area, which was incorrect as per the High Court directive.
In 2009, the Hight Court directed the government to demarcate the four rivers surrounding the capital – Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakkhya and Balu – and erect boundary pillars to protect the rivers from encroachment.
According to the directive, the water’s reach during rainy season was to be considered as the river area, while riverbed meant the area where water remained during winter. In addition to the water’s reach during rainy season, 50 metres more are supposed to be counted as the total area of the river.
However, when the committee made field visits to the Turag and Balu rivers on July 10 and 17 this year it found that most of the river boundary pillars – set up on the both sides of the Turag in 2011 – had been uprooted.
The committee said 39 pillars near Ichhakabad mouza in Dhaka had also been found around 20-24m inside the Turag’s high water mark (rainy season water flow), which was incorrect according to the High Court directive.
Also, in the same river, six pillars located at Borobazar mouza of Dhaka were set up around 50m inside the high water mark, while all the pillars under Kaundia mouza were set up around 50-55m inside.
According to the report, the committee also found that similar inconsistencies existed for the boundary pillars and encroachment scenario of the Balu River.
The committee recommended that the government erect the pillars for both the rivers again through a joint collaboration of all related agencies, including Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Agency (BIWTA), Water Resources Ministry, Department of Environment and the district administrations concerned.
The 10-member committee was formed by the River Taskforce on July 1 to assess the physical scenario of the river boundary pillars.
According to the High Court directive, the deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur are responsible for directly supervising the work on the pillars.
Syed Monowar Hossain, joint secretary of Poribesh Banchao Andolon (Poba) and also a member of the committee, said the government should seriously consider the report made by its own people for protecting the river from being grabbed.
If the government failed to following the committee’s recommendations, the green groups would be forced to seek legal measures on the issue, he added.
The 10-member committee also includes BIWTA Director (port) Md Abul Bashar, Deputy Secretary of Shipping Ministry Md Delowar Haider, Deputy Secretary of Water Resources Ministry Kazi Sakhawat Hossain, Deputy Secretary of Environment Ministry Ranjit Chandra Sarker, three additional deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj respectively Md Abul Fazal Mir, Sebastin Rema and Md Siddiqur Rahman, and Sharif Jamil of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa).
