Govt footing eviction bill?

BIWTA along with the district administration knocks down illegal structures on the Shitalakhya in Narayanganj yesterday. Inset, a father and son watch the demolition drive that also razed part of their house. Photo: Shawkat Jamil

The government is spending huge amount from the public exchequer for its ongoing drive against river grabbers, although there is a legal option for realising the cost from the demolished property of the encroachers.
Director (Port Division) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Mahabubul Alam said they have never received any compensation for demolition costs.
BIWTA Deputy Director Saiful Islam said the deputy commissioners (DC) concerned are responsible for realising the demolition costs from the encroachers.
"I believe the offenders should pay the demolition costs, but it's not in practice and as far as I can remember there is no specific law to realise the costs from them," said DC of Narayanganj Md Shamsur Rahman.
Eviction is carried out under the Eviction Ordinance (Presidential Order), 1973 that provides that demolition costs may be exacted by auctioning the demolished property, said Rahman.
"But it is not practically viable. If we intend to realise the expenses under the Public Demand Recovery Act, there has to be a designated authority to declare it," he added.
Eminent lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik said those who have grabbed khas land and erected illegal structures must be made liable for the demolition expenses.
The government should also take appropriate measures to extract the expenses from the offenders, he added.
Prof Mizanur Rahman of law department of Dhaka University said even if there is no specific law in this regard, the offenders must be made to pay the demolition cost as per the spirit of the jurisprudence.
Deputy Director Saiful Islam said BIWTA had to spend Tk 1 lakh on average every day during the nine-day drive in the Turag, while Deputy Director Alamgir Kabir estimated that the daily eviction cost in the Shitalakkhya is Tk 2 lakh.
The expenses for an eviction drive include day labourers' wage, fuel for tugboats and other costs.
BIWTA Senior Deputy Director Md Abu Zafar Hawlader said the ongoing drive in the Shitalakkhya is the seventh in a sequence since 2001. The drive was conducted twice in 2007 during the caretaker government rule.
BIWTA first launched a drive against river encroachers in 2001 following a High Court direction for a work plan, though it had prepared a list of encroachers on the foreshores long ago, said Alamgir Kabir.
"We had a list of at least 3,100 structures built encroaching on the Buriganga river. And it cost Tk 14 lakh to demolish around 1,000 structures under several drives," he said.
A high official speaking anonymously said BIWTA has so far filed five or six cases with police against the river grabbers on charge of criminal offence since 2001, but the cases are still pending.