Teaming up to save Dhaka ponds

Anyone visiting Dhaka's Dania area will find several rickshaw garages on land, which several decades back used to be a large pond.

The 0.2101-acre waterbody was filled up and occupied by people over the years like many other ponds in the capital.

A faded billboard in front of the land reads "1403, Dania Road. Flat booking is going on".

"Even in 1992-93, this used to be a pond," said Md Azhar, a local.

"Its water was crystal clear. However, the water became dirty later on and around 12 years back it was filled up to construct the rickshaw garages, owned by four or five persons," he added.

This pond was among 66 waterbodies under the jurisdiction of Dhaka District Administration.

Md Ashraful Islam, chief town planner of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, said, "Of the 66 ponds in Rajuk areas, 55 are on khas land, seven are vested properties, and two each are under Dhaka north and Narayanganj city corporations."

The official informed they are going to recover and protect the ponds with a view to using those as water retention reservoirs, for replenishing groundwater levels, and public recreational spaces with walkways and sitting arrangement.

"We have decided to take necessary steps to retrieve and protect 35 ponds in the first phase -- four at Satarkul, three each at Dakkhin Khan and Sutrapur, two each at Ramna, Uttar khan and Wari, and one each at Hazaribagh, Kalunagar, Lalmatia, Narayanganj, Baropukur, Dania, Motijheel, Manda, Diabari, Goran, Satarkul and Chhoto Beraid, among other areas," he said.

"The rest will also be recovered in the second phase. All grabbers will be evicted with help from the district administrations," he added.

Meanwhile, three survey teams of Rajuk recently conducted site visits and found structures on many of those ponds.

There is a playground in place of a pond near Kamrunnesa Government High School at Wari, while tin-shed structures and semi-concrete multi-storied buildings were found at Rajarbag pond.

In Chhoto Beraid and Satarkul areas, housing projects were seen filling up some ponds and waterbodies with sand, while locals filled up a pond at Gazaria.

According to the World Health Organization standards, while at least nine square metres of public space is necessary for every person in a city, Dhaka has only 0.61 sq metres.

Nabayan Khisa, deputy town planner of Rajuk, said 80 percent of the 35 ponds to be recovered in the first phase are in good condition while the rest are either in a dire state or completely filled up.

A meeting held on February 14 among Dhaka district administration, Dhaka divisional commissioner, Rajuk chairman and some experts in this regard recommended forming a five-member committee to advise on the list of ponds to ensure its priority, he said.

"Our main objective is to protect the waterbodies, ponds, open spaces, and green spaces of Dhaka," said Nabayan.

Rajuk will fund the project while Dhaka district administration will provide assistance in this regard, he said.

Draft designs will be prepared voluntarily by an organisation before the final designs are prepared, he said. "We will hold a follow-up meeting next month," the official added.