Government agencies, local public representatives, traders and influential land grabbers are allegedly setting up illegal establishments to try and grab the Subhadhya Khal, a major canal in Dhaka’s Keraniganj upazila.
Various garment factories and local residents have also been filling up the canal by dumping solid waste, which had contracted the canal’s width and depth.
Discharges from the drain and sewage comprising domestic and industrial liquid waste are also creating stench and causing water pollution on the canal.
Subhadhya Canal which is around 10km long and 20 to 30 meter wide has links with rivers Buriganga and Dhaleshwari, and flows through Kaliganj, Gholambazar, Subhadhya, Bagoir, Aganagar, Rajindrapur, Abbagicha, Kutubnagar and Abdullahpur of Keraniganj upazila in Dhaka.
Local residents and the Water Development Board (WDB), the concerned authority for the Subhadhya Canal, alleged influential land grabbers, public representatives, garments owners, and local administrative bodies of occupying the canal.
Azizur Rahman, a resident of Gholambazar said, “Several influential land grabbers, including ruling party leaders, were grabbing the canal by building shops.”
“Several government authorities, including the former caretaker government, could not free the canal completely. When a mobile team comes to demolish the illegal establishments, the grabbers use political backing to try and stop the drive,” he said.
“Dhaka zila parishad and Keraniganj upazila parishad have jointly established a market, occupying parts of the canal area,” he also alleged.
However, Keraniganj upazila Chairman Shahin Ahmed denied the allegations and told the Dhaka tribune, “No public representative including UP chairman has been involved with the encroachment of the canal. The zila parishad market was not established in the canal area.”
“We took up a 100-day project costing Tk4.7m and demolished establishments from the canal area. But different traders were building illegal shops in the canal area within days,” he said.
“We have also met with the traders to remove the illegal establishments,” he added.
Seeking anonymity, an Aganagor resident said, “The Aganagor union parishad chairman and ruling party leader Sheikh Jewel built many shops in the canal area for rent.”
“During the dry season, the canal goes dry for lack of depth. Although WDB excavated the canal few years ago, it is being filled up again by the continuous dumping of solid waste from garments and households,” he said.
Visiting the Subhadhya Canal, the correspondent found that local residents, and many garments, dyeing and other factories, mostly in Kaliganj, had dumped waste and garment jhuts into the canal.
Various shops and markets were illegally set up on the canal embankments, while pillars were erected on the canal for encroachment. Many mosques, including Baitul Hamd Jame Masjid at Gholambazar, were also set up in the canal.
Tariq A al-Fayyaz, the Executive Engineer of WDB’s Dhaka O&M Division-2, told the Dhaka Tribune, “We carried out an eviction drive and demolished the illegal establishments in the canal years ago, but the encroachers built it again.”
“We have also decided to go for another eviction drive to clear Subhadhya Canal from grabbers, and also plan to build a 1.3km walkway on both sides of the canal, which will start from Kaliganj point where the canal connected with the Buriganga River,” he said.
The WDB official also said the move has not begun because of insufficient funds.
“We have already sent a proposal to the authority of Climate Change Fund, and sought a government order (GO) for an eviction drive in the canal area, which will be allocated soon,” he said.
