It was there just six months ago
Once Dhaka was adorned with several hundred ponds. Like canals, only a handful exist now. But they are also in death throes due to negligence of the authorities concerned. Although, according to the Field, Open Space, Park and Natural Water Body Protection Act 2000, filling up of any water body including pond is illegal, it's going on unabated. The Daily Star found 63 ponds in the maps of undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) in its 28 wards out of 90. A survey for the map was carried out between 2003 and 2011. But many of the water bodies were filled up before the period and also even after the survey. We are publishing the fourth report of the series today covering the then DCC ward-87, which is now ward-51 of the Dhaka South City Corporation.
Imagine a pond surrounded by trees that were home to many birds, welcoming all with their chirps.
It had a name too.
The water body was fittingly called “Bagicha pond”, since the place looked like a beautiful garden.
But the owner filled it up by dumping sand since the beginning of this year.
During a recent visit, this correspondent saw an open space where sand was being dumped.
It was impossible to say that the place used to be a water body as there was no sign of water. There were still some trees surrounding the land along with tin-roofed structures.
The Bagicha pond was famous among the residents of Mirhajirbagh under ward-87 of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation, who used its clean water on a regular basis even a decade ago.
The ward comprising Mirhajirbagh, Dholaipar and Par Gendaria -- now ward-51 of Dhaka South City Corporation -- is around 0.657 sq km.
The around 2.5 bigha pond was dug up during the British period, according to locals. It was situated beside the Bagicha mosque and was used by devotees for ablutions.
“Back in the 80s, my friends and I would swim in it regularly,” said Omar Faruk, a resident of Mirhajirbagh.
“But mostly we would go there for the mangoes,” he reminisced. “We used to climb up the trees on its banks for plucking the fruits in secret.”
“Whenever we realised that the owner was nearby, we would jump into the water,” he said.
Though Omar was smiling, he could not hide the sadness in his voice. “It was a good place to take rest too,” he added.
Ali Hossain, a local businessman, said even 10 years ago whenever they faced a shortage of water they relied on the Bagicha pond.
Jahirul Islam, manager of Rangdhanu Furniture located next to the pond area, said the owner started filling up the pond from the first week of January.
“Due to incessant dumping of waste from the nearby houses, the water of the pond became unusable around five to seven years back,” he said.
Contacted, Md Jamil, son of the pond owner, said they were yet to decide what they will do with the land. “Maybe we will build houses on it,” he said.
The pond, however, still exists in the base map of the Dhaka City Corporation since the survey for the map was carried out in 2006.
(Edited by Hasan Meer)