Eviction in vain
The picture in the front page of last Sunday's The Daily Star, with the above mentioned caption, speaks a thousands words about various government plans and actions to effect those, going ultimately haywire. The photograph is fairly representative of the general picture insofar as it relates to illegal construction and occupation of public land.
It will not escape the observer's notice that almost all the lands that are illegally occupied are costly prime lands, and one of the reasons why it so is that the culprits are willing to go to the end of the world to hold on to it. We are shocked to see in the picture newly built structures on the western end of the Gulshan-Banani Lake after filling up a part of that lake. And attempts by the relevant authorities of the government have come to naught.
The natural question is why is it that the eviction drive has not been successful? It need hardly be repeated that the drive had started with a big bang. The whole effort had the support of the highest judiciary, had the full backing of the administration, and the PM had also given her full support to the effort to free public space of illegal occupation. Apart from these, the matter had the support of the environmental activists and the civil society as a whole. We are surprised at the zero output of the agencies concerned to free the lands of illegal occupation.
When a piece of public property is illegally occupied and houses are built on it, in spite of the government avowed policy to prevent that, the only conclusion that one can draw is that there is something seriously wrong somewhere. And when that piece of real estate happens to be a vital piece of land, tampering with which has severe impact on the ecology, the matter assumes a severe proportion.
No action plan can rest on a one-off act. It should be stressed that merely evicting is not enough, and neither is it an end by itself. It must be seen through by a follow up action that involves, among other things, prosecuting the illegal occupants and their sponsors. There must be disincentive for those that indulge in such acts, irrespective of their political connection. And this is perhaps one of the several reasons why the eviction plan has failed. The other being that the effort is not sustained, and of course there is always the money nexus between those that are to ensure implementation of the plan and the offenders.
We feel that the eviction drive must be unrelenting and total and, if needed, the government should create a designated high powered authority that will oversee and ensure the full implementation of the drive.
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