Serve notices in 15 days to evict canal grabbers

A parliamentary body yesterday asked the deputy commissioner (DC) of Dhaka to serve notices in 15 days on 1,105 individuals and organsiations asking them to remove their illegal structures on 43 canals in the capital.
The parliamentary standing committee on land ministry also asked the land survey department to provide a list of these canal grabbers to the DC, Dhaka City Corporation, Rajuk, Dhaka Metropolitan Police and LGRD and cooperative ministry.
The House body said it will disclose the names of the canal grabbers through a press conference this month to create public opinion against the grabbers.
A joint team comprised of law enforcers and government officials will carry out the canal rescue operation if the grabbers themselves do not remove their illegal structures, chief of the House body AKM Mozammel Huq said after it met at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Talking to The Daily Star, Mozammel, a ruling Awami League lawmaker, also said they will meet the prime minister shortly to seek 'guideline' from her in this regard.
“It will be hard for any government organisation to remove those structures as many influential individuals, land developers, and even Dhaka City Corporation and Water Development Board have grabbed those canals. We will therefore seek the prime minister's intervention and guidelines,” he added.
On April 20, the parliamentary committee told journalists that it asked the DC of Dhaka to serve notices immediately on more than 1,000 individuals, organisations and establishments to demolish the structures they had built encroaching on 39 canals in the city.
The committee chief said it recommended cancellation of contract with the project developer of government-funded Bhashantek housing project for slum dwellers and low-income people due to irregularities in allocation of flats.