Oases lost to urban sprawl
Once Dhaka was adorned with several hundred ponds. Like canals, only a handful exist now. But they are also in death throes due to negligence of the authorities concerned. Although, according to the Field, Open Space, Park and Natural Water Body Protection Act 2000, filling up of any water body including pond is illegal, it's going on unabated. The Daily Star found 63 ponds in the maps of undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) in its 28 wards out of 90. A survey for the map was carried out between 2003 and 2011. While many of the water bodies were filled up before the period. We are publishing the first report of the series today covering the then DCC ward-90, which is now ward-54 of the Dhaka South City Corporation.
Once ward-90 of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) was full of ponds, but almost all of them ceased to exist as the owners have filled up the water bodies for construction of schools, buildings, a mosque, rickshaw garages or tin-shed structures.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Though necessary, the government organisations did not bother to keep a pond in the ward-90 (now ward-54 of Dhaka South City Corporation) comprising Karimullah Bagh, New Jurain Alambagh and South Jurain (including the mazar area) areas.
The DCC prepared a base map carrying out a survey in February-April 2006, which showed there were at least seven ponds in the ward.
During a recent visit, this newspaper found there used to be at least 11 ponds in the area. Seven of which ceased to exist while four were in death throes.
A POND IN KHANDAKAR ROAD
Around eight years back, there was a pond beside Khandakar Road, which was filled up and Sheikh Kamal Government High School was built there.
Md Zakir, an elderly staff at the school, said a six-storey school building was constructed in 2015 under an education ministry project.
“The water was clean around 50 years back and people used to swim there on a regular basis. The water became dirty around 15 years ago due to dumping of waste, and the pond eventually turned into a dirty doba (ditch),” he said.
Mohammad Aminul Islam, deputy director of the project named “Project to construct 11 high schools and six colleges in Dhaka city” said they received the land from the food ministry through the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office.
He said the pond water was unusable as the authorities concerned did not take proper protection measures. A large portion of it was filled up earlier, he claimed.
He said they got the pond from the ministry in 2013. The registration of the pond land (around 50 decimals) was done on November 6, 2012.
Mohammad Hanif, a resident of the area, said, “Locals as well as the workers of a flour mill of the food directorate and nearby kitchen markets used to take baths in the pond. Many of us also learnt to swim there. It was there till the 90s. But the water became dirty...”
TWO PONDS IN KHANDAKAR BARI
There were two ponds under Khandakar Bari beside Khandakar Road, which were filled up to make way for a housing project.
One of them was filled up completely and the other partially in 2008. Locals said the land of the ponds was around 7.75 bighas.
Hanif, a local, said ownership of the ponds was under Khondokar Bari but they sold it to one Mir Quasem Ali. He later sold it to a company named “Care-e-Nagar”.
Contacted, Engr Aminul Islam of “Care-e-Nagar” said they were going to construct seven buildings consisting 90 flats in total. He said they bought the land from Mir Quasem. “We have already constructed four buildings,” he said.
JURAIN MAZAR MOSQUE POND
There was a pond beside the Jurain Majarsharif Shahi Jam-e-Mosque that was filled up for building an extension of the mosque around five years back.
The water body was around 1.5 bighas.
Mohammad Shajahan, a resident of the area, said due to the construction of the Jurain new road in 2002, a portion of the pond was also filled up.
“Afterwards, the pond was filled up by the mazar (shrine) committee for the extension of the mosque,” he said.
Farid Hossain, a resident of the area, echoed him.
Haji Abdur Rashid, joint secretary of the mosque committee, said the land was acquired by the government in 2000. Later, they received the pond. He said the main entrance to the mosque and a part of the new mosque building was constructed on the pond land.
FOUR PONDS UNDER MUNSHIBARI IN JURAIN
There used to be four ponds in the Munshibari area. One of them is completely filled up and three others remain partially alive due to a lack of initiative.
The owners of the ponds sold portions of the water bodies as plots at different times, said locals.
LALBANU HOUSING POND
The around one bigha pond was next to Shahadat Road. It was alive even two years back. Now it is completely filled up and 14 buildings were constructed on the pond land.
The owner of the pond was one Samed Mia who dug up the pond in 1971 before the Liberation War. His grandchildren sold it after his death, said Munni Begum, Samed's granddaughter.
She said filling up of the pond started around 20 years back and it was filled up completely two years ago.
POND BESIDE JURAIN MAIN ROAD
It was among the ponds that belonged to the family members of Munshibari, who dug up the around 45 decimal water body in the Pakistan period, said Nurul Haque, a family member.
POND BEHIND SHEIKH KAMAL SCHOOL
The 33 decimal pond was dug up in the 70s. Now 15 decimals of it remain as houses were constructed on the pond at different times, said Shamsul Haque, one of the owners of the pond.
“Except for drinking, we still use the pond water,” he said.
POND BEHIND MUNSHIBARI JAM-E-MOSQUE
It was a huge pond -- around four bigha. But the water body has been filled up partially since the 80s.
“We dug up the pond for selling soil in the Pakistan period. Later, we sold it to another person before the Liberation War,” said Nurul Haque of Munshibari.
WEST JURAIN POND
The pond was situated near West Jurain Road, which was filled up by its owner. Now, there is an iron factory and a rickshaw garage there.
Nurul Islam, a resident of West Jurain, said the pond was filled up eight to nine years back. “As a child, my friends and I used to swim there regularly,” he reminisced.
Md Jakir, another resident, said the pond water was very clean.
Asar Ali, an elderly resident of the area, echoed him. He said the pond was there since the Pakistan period. “Back then, many of us used the pond water for drinking.”
“We stopped drinking the water after tube-wells were set up in the area. But we still used it for bathing or fishing even 12-14 years back.”
He said the pond owner is one Sultan Ahmed Sardar. “The family filled it up around eight years ago.”
The around one bigha pond was beside the second Jurain graveyard.
“Around 18 to 20 of us used to sneak out of home and take baths in the pond at night,” said a nostalgic Mohammad Roni, a local.
Even people from areas such as Narinda and Gandaria used to drop by to take baths, he said.
TULABAGICHA POND AT WEST JURAIN
Once the pond located at Tulabagicha of West Jurain was surrounded by trees. The water body is on the verge of extinction as most of it is filled up.
“There were mango, coconut and litchi trees among others surrounding the pond,” said Mohammad Shamim, 50, who was born in the area. There were also two concrete ghatlas (stairs) on its two sides,” he said.
“In the 80s, around 500 people who lived in the area used the water body. The area was lowland,” he said, adding that back then there were only one two-storey building in the area.
Shamim said after the 80s, the owner started to sell some portions of the pond.
A portion of the pond is still alive, but it has become a dirty water body due to a lack of care. The rest of the pond was turned into a mosque, rickshaw garage and some other structures, he added.
Another resident of the area, Ashraf Ali, claimed that the pond was on around five bighas of land, surrounded by trees. “It was also filled with fish.”
The mosque -- Tulabagicha Jam-e-Mosque -- was constructed in 1989 after the owner donated seven kathas of land for its construction and 10 kathas for a madrasa, he said.
Md Sayeed, owner of the pond, said his father Md Kader purchased the 59 decimals of land in 1952. He claimed that the pond was filled up by dumping of garbage and sand over the years by others.
He said around 30 percent of the pond still exists. “We don't have any specific plan for it now.”
Sayeed said his father gave five decimals of land to build a mosque and the rest was filled up for a rickshaw garage.
He also alleged that the mosque was built taking a bigger piece of the pond land than the one his father had donated. “I have filed a case against the additional land for the mosque and a legal battle is ongoing in a lower court.”
PASCHIM JURAIN KOBOROSTHAN ROAD POND
Even around a decade ago, the pond was alive. It is now filled up completely by its owner.
There is a signboard belonging to a developer company, “South Asia Swapno Kutir”, on the land, where a multi-storey building will be constructed.
Sheikh Kamal, managing director of South Asia Development Ltd, said they signed a contract with the owner of the land around three years back for constructing a building.
He claimed that there was no pond in the area during the signing. “The owner also purchased the land without the pond,” he claimed.
Mohammad Foysal, a resident of the area, said the pond used to belong to his grandfather who sold it to another person around 15 years back. Foysal claimed that the new owner eventually filled up the water body.
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