COX'S BAZAR, Sep 04: The district administration during the first three days of the five-day crackdown on illegal encroachment on the Bankkhali River in the district demolished over 400 houses and other structures and retrieved 60 acres of land from illegal occupation.
The drive was launched to restore navigability of the river which has become almost non-existent due to encroachment as well as pollution.
Local influential people misused their power and occupied the Bankkhali for years and continued business. As a result, the river lost its natural course and disappeared into different tracts.
Finally, the administration started a campaign to bring back the lost youth and heritage of the Bankkhali.
Although the eviction drive on the banks of the Bankkhali River in Cox's Bazar city was closed for the third day, it resumed on the fourth day (Thursday) in the morning.
The administration started the eviction process in Badar Mokam area on the west of Kasturaghat in the morning.
Members of the law enforcement agencies began gathering at Kasturaghat on the bank of the river around 10am. Bamboos were placed to put up a barricade to halt public movement.
Then the eviction activities were started in Badar Mokam part of the river with pulling down the illegal structures by using three excavators.
The residents there raised protests when the operation was underway. Protests were going on in Peshkarpara area since morning.
Barricades were made by placing electric poles and bamboos on the road. Hundreds of men and women, starting from school students, participated in the protests. They showed reluctance to leave the illegally-built structures they had been residing in.
Local environmental activists said that at one time the river used to flow up to the main road of Badramokam Mosque.
Due to the encroachment by bandits and influential people, pollution and land trade, the Bakankhali River started to lose its existence long before.
Where boats and ships used to moor, hundreds of large buildings now stand. If these structures are demolished, the Bakankhali River will regain its lost heritage.
BIWTA Cox's Bazar's Assistant Director Md Khairuzzaman said that the evacuation operation that began on September 1 to restore the normal flow of the river will continue until today (September 5).
BIWTA Director AKM Arif Uddin said that considering the overall situation, it was not possible to carry out the eviction drive on the third day. However, on Thursday, the fourth day, the drive began again. Eviction activities will continue until all the encroachers of the river are driven out, he added.
Although the operation was hampered by obstacles on the third day of the eviction, a case has been filed naming 11 identified and 400 unidentified people as accused in the incident.
Md Abdul Wakil, port officer of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), filed the case with the Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station on Wednesday night, said Md. Ilias Khan, officer-in-charge (OC) of the Sadar Model Police Station.
He said that the case had been registered under the section of obstructing government work and the police are conducting a drive to arrest the accused.
© 2025 - All Rights with The Financial Express
