The company under the banner of Hazaribagh Model Town has been filling up the wetland just outside the flood protection embankment on the southern side of Shikder Medical College, a private institution.

The Wetland, Water Body and Open Space Protection Act, 2000 does not permit anyone to fill up any wetland without permission of the authorities.

Urbanisation experts have long been raising alarm that continuous filling up of the wetland on the suburbs of Dhaka will expose the city more to floods. They say flooding in the city would linger for longer periods, as rainwater would not find enough way out. Dhaka suffered acute waterlogging in the last monsoon and experts blamed it on the filling up of the wetlands.

Rajuk, the body responsible for the city's planning and development, has been anything but proactive in dealing with the issue of protecting the wetlands.

"There are so many people applying for project approval. I cannot remember right now whether they (The Hazaribagh Model Town) got it or not," said Rezaul Karim Tarafder, member, estate department of Rajuk.

When asked whether they would take any action or not Rezaul said, "Give me their address and location, I will look into the matter."

Taking advantage of Rajuk's indifference to the problem, developers like Hazaribagh Model Town Company have been continuously filling up the wetlands around the city. Some Rajuk sources say a group of officials within the Rajuk have been conniving in the rampant land grabbing.

One employee from the Hazaribagh Model Town Company said the company takes Tk 12 lakh for a plot.

Posing as a prospective client The Daily Star correspondent had recently talked to Md Shajahan, managing director of the Hazaribagh Model Town Company.

He said, "We will hand over the plot to you within a year on receipt of the payment and we will start filling up your plot once the booking is made."

At one stage of the conversation Shajahan frankly admitted to his company's not having Rajuk's approval for filling up the land and selling it to people as residential plots.

But he added, "We will manage to get the approval very soon. We are now processing project in Rajuk. You don't need to worry about it as we have already sold 30 plots."

Shajahan maintained his composure even when the correspondent divulged his identity. He said, "There is no legal bar to filling up this land because it is not a wetland, rather an arable land. And we are doing nothing wrong."