Baluyar Dighi

It is difficult for anyone to find Baluyar Dighi in the port city as the encroachers grabbed all of its banks by constructing illegal structures.
Grocery shops, welding shops, godowns, unplanned semi-pucca houses and buildings have been built to fill Baluyar Dighi, once a large water body.
The encroachers also have put up bamboo and wood in the pond, filled up the eastern side and built up many illegal semi-pucca structures on the western side. Multi-storied buildings are also being constructed to grab the pond when the authorities concerned are indifferent to the problem.
Baluyar Dighi is located in the north side of the Khatunganj, commercial area of the port city, and on the southern side of the Chaktai canal.
Landlord Balu Poddar dug the dighi during the British era near Avoymitra Shwashan. Sixty-year-old Md Siddique Mia who live at a slum along with his family members near the pond, said water of the pond is being polluted and no one has any heed to protect the pond that they are bound to use for bathing and other daily activities as they have no alternative.
Locals said some influential people are grabbing the Baluyar Dighi as the authorities concerned are not taking action to save the pond.
They said Shafi Saodagor, Nur Mohammad Saodagor, Asgar Ali Saodagor, Maqbul Ali and some other influential men are now owners of the dighi.
Mahiuddin, a college student, said he used to swim and bathe with his childhood friends in the dighi. He said it still can be protected from pollution and the grabbers if authorities come forward.
Dr Alak Paul, chairman of Geography and Environmental Studies Department of Chittagong University (CU), said pollution of the water body would pose threat to the public health.
Pointing to its ecological importance, Dr Alak said the large pond contains the rainwater of the area, increasing the underground water level. If it disappears, waterlogging will hit the locals in the long run, he said, adding that the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) have a great role to play in saving the dighi.
Mentioning the importance of the dighi in protecting biodiversity and the environment, he said, “The authorities concerned often take steps without tangible result as the landlords and the grabbers continue to encroach on the water bodies.”
CDA Deputy Town Planner Shahinul Islam Khan said action would be taken against the grabbers.
When asked, Mayor Mohammad Majur Alam said, “We want good environment but owners of the dighi have to take initiative to protect the water body first and if they want we are ready to help.”