Recovering city lakes from grabbers
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Mohammed Zulfiquer
WHEN I pass a road, which runs along any of the capital city's lakes, for example, the Dhanmondi Lake, I enjoy the beauty of nature being a resident of this brick and stone made congested city with proliferating high-rise buildings. The sights of tranquil water of the lake and its lush green surroundings make me feel so good that I often forget the anguish of being caught up in a severe traffic jam. And then I realise why it is so necessary to recover the lands of the water bodies, which were encroached upon and occupied by different quarters in the past.
We have seen how the beauty of our lakes and water bodies has withered away upon grabbing their lands by the influential quarters at different times. The most popular technique adopted by them was erection of a wall along the side of road from which the lake was visible. In this way, they blocked the scope for the people to feast their eyes with the beauty of the lake water and its tranquillising scenic surroundings. They pile up soil into the empty spaces between their newly raised walls and their own homes to formalise the encroachment in a silent manner to get some new land. The lake land of Hatirjheel near Gulshan-1 and behind the Sonargaon Hotel have been grabbed adopting this notorious technique in the past. The previous governments cooperated with the encroachers by avoiding construction of bridges over the lake at convenient points, which were necessary to ensure water flow and increase the beauty of the lake.
In recent days, different quarters, particularly the green activists, raised and reiterated their demands for recovering these illegally occupied lands from the encroachers. They have brought forward the point that the recovery is necessary to save the city from water logging problems and to ensure smooth water flow. There is no doubt about the logic of their argument.
But the desired recovery is a tough job for all concerned as many unauthorised constructions have already been done spending a huge amount countable in only millions. The controversy over the construction of the BGMEA Bhaban is just one example.
So the government is requested not to allow constructing walls along any lake to save the water bodies from future encroachers. In its effort to recover the grabbed land, the government should recover those lands where constructions are yet to start and begin its beautification work. It will help the passers-by to enjoy the lake's beauty before the government ends its fight against the big encroachers.
WHEN I pass a road, which runs along any of the capital city's lakes, for example, the Dhanmondi Lake, I enjoy the beauty of nature being a resident of this brick and stone made congested city with proliferating high-rise buildings. The sights of tranquil water of the lake and its lush green surroundings make me feel so good that I often forget the anguish of being caught up in a severe traffic jam. And then I realise why it is so necessary to recover the lands of the water bodies, which were encroached upon and occupied by different quarters in the past.
We have seen how the beauty of our lakes and water bodies has withered away upon grabbing their lands by the influential quarters at different times. The most popular technique adopted by them was erection of a wall along the side of road from which the lake was visible. In this way, they blocked the scope for the people to feast their eyes with the beauty of the lake water and its tranquillising scenic surroundings. They pile up soil into the empty spaces between their newly raised walls and their own homes to formalise the encroachment in a silent manner to get some new land. The lake land of Hatirjheel near Gulshan-1 and behind the Sonargaon Hotel have been grabbed adopting this notorious technique in the past. The previous governments cooperated with the encroachers by avoiding construction of bridges over the lake at convenient points, which were necessary to ensure water flow and increase the beauty of the lake.
In recent days, different quarters, particularly the green activists, raised and reiterated their demands for recovering these illegally occupied lands from the encroachers. They have brought forward the point that the recovery is necessary to save the city from water logging problems and to ensure smooth water flow. There is no doubt about the logic of their argument.
But the desired recovery is a tough job for all concerned as many unauthorised constructions have already been done spending a huge amount countable in only millions. The controversy over the construction of the BGMEA Bhaban is just one example.
So the government is requested not to allow constructing walls along any lake to save the water bodies from future encroachers. In its effort to recover the grabbed land, the government should recover those lands where constructions are yet to start and begin its beautification work. It will help the passers-by to enjoy the lake's beauty before the government ends its fight against the big encroachers.