BIWTA knocks down 55 illegal structures

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority yesterday knocked down some 55 structures, including one four-storey building and two three-storey buildings, in Ramchandrapur area of capital's Mohammadpur as part of their ongoing drive against the illegal establishments along the Buriganga and Turag rivers.

A team, led by BIWTA's Joint Director AKM Arif Uddin, started the drive at Dhaka Uddyan at around 9:00am and continued till 4:00pm.

A total of 117 structures have been knocked down so far in the second phase of the drive which will be continued for eight more working days.

The team also recovered around 2 acres of land and cleared a channel of the Turag river which had been occupied by a housing company.

On the fourth day of the drive's second phase, BIWTA demolished one four-storey building, two three-storey building, five two-storey buildings, six one-storey buildings, three concrete structures and 20 tin-shed structures.

Arif said they would continue their drive for seven more days to free the rivers surrounding the capital.

Earlier, BIWTA identified some 906 illegal structures along the bank of Buriganga, stretching from Sadarghat to Gabtoli. They started a 13-day drive on January 29 to evict all the illegal ones to free the river from encroachers.

Under a new project, the government would set up some 12,000 demarcation pillars along the rivers around the capital to protect them from encroachment.

Tender would be floated by this month and the work might start within the next three months. The government has already appointed a consultant firm to implement the Tk850 crore project.

Under the project, the government would build 50km-long walkways, plant trees along the walkways and set up three eco-parks at Shinnirtek, Tongi and Ashulia.