Residents welcome eviction drive
Sultana Rahman
Residents of the DND (Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra) Dam area have expressed their satisfaction over the on going drive by the Water Development Board (WDB) to eradicate illegal structures from 32 canals. Officials however warn that the drive would not be enough to free around three million people of the area from the annual waterlogging if the filled-up canals are not excavated properly. "We are satisfied because due to the illegal structures, water retention became difficult for the canals and we had to face routine waterlogging," said Mir Hossain, a local resident. "But still the stagnant water is not getting the channels to move away from the area due to the land filling," he added. The WDB has evicted around 35 structures including concrete buildings and makeshift ones. Many locals however have alleged that a number of illegal buildings on filled-up parts of the canals have not been removed because some influential people owned them. The drive against encroachment began on July 26 to ensure smooth flow of rainwater which gets stuck around the DND Dam especially during the monsoon and the flood season. Rampant encroachment had narrowed down the main drainage canal of the embankment and that contributes to the waterlogging. "We have been taken hostage by a section of influential people who have occupied the canal. We have been trapped by water as a result. We have to suffer from waterlogging during almost every rainy season," said Kabir Hossain, a resident of Sherulia village. Around 20 kilometers out of the 32 km stretch of the drainage canal has been affected by encroachment. Even multi-storeyed buildings have been constructed at places. That has created an obstacle for water to flow into the nearby Lakhya River. Some canals have vanished without trace at Pagla. The 32 km long DND Dam was built between 1962 and 1968 to bring around 5,680 hectors of land under an irrigation project. The officials of the Narayanganj district administration and the WDB conducted the drive on the Pagla canal at Pagla Bazar and the Shyampur canal at Zia Sarani-Shonir Akhra. The major portion of the canal has been occupied by encroachers and water is not being pumped out in proportion with the rainfall and the volume of water used by households and industrial water. The flow of water to the pump house is also being obstructed by illegal establishments which include residential houses, mills and factories. During the rainy season, thousands of people become marooned near the DND Dam area. Houses, schools, colleges, mosques in low-lying areas go under water. Water also enters mills and factories. Gas supply also gets snapped and boats become the only form of transportation for local residents.
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