Buriganga eviction drive resumes tomorrow
FE Report | Monday, 11 February 2019
The government decided on Sunday to continue the eviction drive against illegal land grabbers along the River Buriganga with more coordination among its different agencies, officials said.
The eviction drive will resume tomorrow (Tuesday) and continue until Thursday, according to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the conference room of the shipping ministry on Sunday afternoon.
The meeting also took some decisions including relocation of 47 mosques illegally built on the banks of the River Buriganga after consultation with local people and selection of suitable places for dumping waste and rubble of demolished buildings.
Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Sayeed Khokon said they will provide dump trucks and two excavators to intensify the drive.
Chairman of BIWTA Commodore Mozammel Haq suggested intensifying coordination among eight government agencies for carrying out the drive successfully.
State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury called upon the officials concerned to carry out the drives in line with the government's directives.
Shipping Secretary Md Abdus Samad delivered the welcome address at the meeting.
Deputy Minister for Water Resources Enamul Haque Shamim, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan and Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-Revenue) of Narayanganj Jasim Uddin Haider and officials of other ministries were also present.
Earlier, the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) decided to evict illegal land grabbers from Buriganga, Sitalakkhya, Turag and Balu rivers to ensure navigability, recover illegally grabbed public lands and free the rivers from pollution.
BIWTA, which is under the MoS, has so far demolished 1,199 illegal structures during its drives from 29th to 31st January and 6th to 8th February 2019.