Encroachment 8yrs in the making

Savar's Bamni Khal has almost gone out of sight as people living nearby gradually filled the canal with earth and has been using it as farmland over the years, with the authorities concerned being nonchalant to save the waterbody.

In the middle of it, an unauthorised real estate company made the situation worse by grabbing a large part of its land, said locals.

The 2.5km Bamni Khal once connected Karnopara canal at Nogorkanda end and the Turag River at Bazarpara end.

"Sugandha Property Development Ltd" has been piling up sand at Nogorkanda for eight years. Now, the grabbed part would be 50 decimals, said locals.

But, no one from the authorities concerned knew about the situation until residents informed them on February 9.

On that day, a team from upazila administration let off company officials with reprimands. Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Mahfuz, also assistant commissioner (land) in Savar, led the drive. The Daily Star witnessed the raid from beginning to end.

The team asked the Sugandha authorities to remove the sand, but did not set any deadline.

Talking to this correspondent, locals said there is no sign of canal in the area as its land has been used for cultivation. Eventually, unscrupulous people started grabbing it for "development" activities, they added.

Jomir Uddin, a local, became nostalgic while talking about the waterbody. "We used to fish here and transport goods on a regular basis," he said.

If the government takes steps to re-excavate the waterbody, it would benefit people, especially farmers for irrigation, said the residents.

In addition, waterlogging would ease to some extent, said local activists. Poor monitoring and inaction by the authorities are reasons behind the canal's fate, said Shamsul Haque, president of Savar Nodi o Poribesh Unnayan Parishad.

The AC (land) team demarcated the grabbed part of the dead canal by putting up bamboos, which is not enough, said locals. The entire canal land should be marked to recover it, they added.

Asked, Savar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Parvezur Rahman said they already started such demarcation work. "We could not do so before as we are busy with other administrative activities," he added.

Contacted, Selim Reza, secretary of Sugandha Property Development Ltd, said they did not grab the canal land.

On the other hand, AC (land) Abdullah Al Mahfuz said, "They did grab it. We will take legal action against them if the sand is not removed."

Selim Reza claimed that a little quantity of sand might have spilled out on the government land from ours. "We will remove those as soon as possible."

As of yesterday, a week after the drive, the sand remained as it was.

When contacted over phone, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan abruptly hung up, saying, "Talk to me later."

He did not respond to further calls.

WITHOUT RAJUK APPROVAL

Shah Alam Chowdhury, director (zone-5) and design officer of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said they are yet to give approval to Sugandha.

Earlier, a Rajuk team knocked down the company's office gate at Hemayetpur and warned them to stop activities, said the official.

When informed that the company is still operating, Shah Alam said, "We will look into the matter."

Sugandha secretary Selim Reza said, "We applied to Rajuk for its approval but are yet to get it."

When asked why they are running the company until it is authorised, he refused to comment.