A section of land grabbers think that they inherit city's rivers, canals and wetlands from their ancestors, but the government will free the capital from their grip, state minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan has said.
The situation is so dire that the president and the prime minister cannot come out of Bangabhaban and Gono Bhaban -- their government residences -- even after a moderate rainfall, as the capital gets waterlogged, lamented Mannan.
He said at a seminar yesterday that the capital must not remain hostage to the man-made disasters caused by the greedy land grabbers.
He warned Sheikh Hasina's government will not let that happen.
Abdul Mannan was speaking at the seminar titled 'Making Cities Resilient to Disaster' organised by Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) marking the International Day for Disaster Reduction.
Land grabbers are “greedy monsters,” who advertise for sale of even those lands not owned by them, Mannan observed.
Talking about government's preparedness to fight disasters, he said the government has already procured search and rescue equipment for the fire brigade, armed force and Dhaka City Corporation.
Held at the National Museum, Md Mokhlesur Rahman, disaster management and relief division secretary, chaired the event.