The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) during an eviction drive on Wednesday pulled down a total of 57 illegal structures built on the bank of the River Turag at different parts of the capital.
It also razed boundary walls of Silicon Housing, Akask-Mila Western City Ltd, Anirban and Turag Housing at Ramchandpur Mouza under Mohammapur in the capital.
Among the structures demolished, 13 were one-storey buildings, one was two-storey, one three-storey, one four-storey, ten semi-pucca houses and 31 were boundary walls.
On its second day (Wednesday), the eviction drive was conducted from Dhaka Udyan Housing Project area starting at around 9.00 am.
The BIWTA launched the drive on Tuesday to reclaim the river's land lying under illegal occupation of grabbers.
On the first day (Tuesday) of the drive, the BIWTA pulled down seven illegal structures including a four-storey building.
"We will continue the eviction drive until illegal structures on the river Turag are completely removed," Joint Director (port) of BIWTA AKM Arif Uddin told the FE.
Numerous housing companies (private sector) have taken government land (on the river banks) under their illegal possession for building residential plots, a high official of BIWTA said.
The BIWTA has initiated the move to bulldoze unauthorised structures, mainly boundary walls, which the housing companies are building encroaching upon the riverbanks.
The BIWTA official said they have already pulled down the structures in the illegally-developed housing plots on the banks of the River Burigana in Kamrangirchar and Keraniganj.
He said all the illegal structures on the banks of the Buriganga, Turag and other rivers around the capital will be knocked down in phases.
The BIWTA has so far demolished over 1,800 illegal structures and reclaimed at least 42 acres of land from the illegal occupiers on the banks of the Buriganga.
The BIWTA had earlier begun its drive in January last to check encroachment on the Buriganga and restore its navigability and rid it of pollution.
The government agency conducted four phases of the drive from January to February and demolished structures built illegally on the riverbanks.
The first phase started on January 29, the second on February 06, the third phase on February 12 and the fourth phase on February 18.
The BIWTA had demolished 1,869 structures at Basila, Kamrangirchar, Sadarghat and some other parts of the city.
The agency had also taken a Tk 8.48-billion project to build 19 jetties in areas like Aminbazar, Gabtoli, Kanchpur, Tanbazar, Machuwabazar and Khanpur.
It would build a 50-kilometre walkway, plant saplings along the path and set up three eco-parks at Shinnirtek, Tongi and Ashulia.
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