Drive to reclaim Buriganga

THE Dhaka district administration's demolition drive, aimed at reclaiming Buriganga land grabbed by illegal occupants, is part of the overall plan to resurrect the river that has been reduced to a trickle due to encroachment from both sides. The drive, we are told, is being conducted on the basis of a cadastral survey, which earmarked the land belonging to the river. So, only the structures raised by the illegal occupants will be demolished.
The drive is indeed an indicator of what can happen to a river if nothing or little is done, year after year, to stop the encroachers. Unfortunately, such drives in the past were never the kind of sustained efforts needed to clean up the grabbed river banks. The demolition drives began, only to fizzle out after some piecemeal work was done. The encroachers were driven away, but they came back after the force of law weakened on its own. So, what is necessary is to make sure that the grabbers cannot return after the illegal structures are removed. The goal can be attained only when legal action is taken against the encroachers. This is the considered opinion of the environmentalists who have been relentlessly pleading the case for saving the river.
We also believe that demolition of illegal structures should be part of the long-term plan that would not allow the grabbers to come back. It's equally important to have a sustainable plan to use the reclaimed land for the benefit of the people. Constructing walkways and developing a green belt along the banks of the river, which have been on the agenda, will go a long way in protecting the banks of the river while enhancing the beauty of the entire area as well as creating recreational facilities for the people.
It is also necessary that people, including the evictees, realise the importance of saving the river to avoid an imminent environmental disaster. The influential men who often hinder implementation of any uplift plan will have to look at the whole thing from the environmental viewpoint and cooperate with the law enforcers, instead of trying to resist the demolition drives or reoccupy the freed up land. It is more than a matter of enforcing the law; it is a question of saving the river and the city itself.