Though the canal reclamation drive was supposed to resume on April 12, Wasa could not go for the drive as it needs to decide whether it will meet World Bank's precondition for funds or mobilise its own resources, said a top Wasa official on condition of anonymity.

The WB has set a precondition for providing funds that the government has to rehabilitate the settlers who are to be evicted from encroached areas.

Wasa officials said the agency is not obliged to compensate the influential land grabbers and illegal occupants of the canals in the process of eviction and reclamation of the canals.

"We will undertake an integrated and extensive reclamation drive by next July for a permanent solution to the problem," said Wasa Managing Director Dr Kazi Ali Azam.

"We are soon going to conduct a survey to draw a master plan on the city's drainage, sewerage and water supply systems with participation of the Dhaka district administration to facilitate demarcation and reclamation of city canals," he said.

"While the WB will sponsor the master plan of the drainage system, ADB will sponsor the master plan of sewerage and water supply systems," Dr Azam said.

The master plans will incorporate restoration of the existing systems and provide for expansion with new lines where necessary.

The Wasa is presently doing lining of the canal banks and building walkways on the reclaimed part of Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND), Jirani and Begunbari canals at a cost of Tk 3 crore sanctioned by the government, he said.

"A major obstacle in carrying out eviction drive against the canal encroachers is court cases filed by the land grabbers," he said. "We cannot demolish many illegal structures built encroaching into the canals because of court cases."

The Wasa is now drawing a Strategic Development Plan to establish a long-term solution to the problem of canal encroachment, according a Wasa source.

"We are sorting out whether we should take World Bank help and how to make an adjustment with its precondition," he said.

A negotiation between the Wasa and the World Bank is going on in this regard and a decision is likely to come out in the next three or four days.

Excavation and cleaning are urgently needed to restore the usual flow of the city canals to drain out surface water putting an end to perennial waterlogging in the city, said Prof Nazrul Islam, the honorary president of Centre for Urban Studies.

The subcommittee of experts at its meeting in August 2004 decided that the government should rehabilitate the genuine poor and homeless people in the canal areas, said Islam who is a member of canal reclamation expert committee.

Currently the Wasa is trying to find out how many settlers in the canals are genuinely poor and homeless, and who are land grabbers, he said.

The decision was endorsed at the subsequent inter-ministerial meeting chaired by LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, he added.

The list of genuine homeless people settled in the canal areas has to be prepared with due caution so that others cannot take undue advantage of rehabilitation programme, he said.

Coalition for the Urban Poor was assigned to prepare a list of the genuine homeless people (not the influential land grabbers) living encroaching into the canals.

The city originally had a total of 43 canals, all of which are not in a condition for reclamation.

The government identified all 43 canals in the city plagued either with total obstruction to the water flow or hindrance to the flow because of encroachment.

According to findings of the expert committee formed by the LGRD ministry last year, land grabbers have occupied around 2.41 lakh square feet area of 13 canals and four distributaries.

The illegal occupation of the city canals has exposed the city dwellers to a recurrent suffering of rainwater-logging every year.

People with political clout, local goons, developers, filling stations and various organisations are among the canal encroachers, according to the expert committee members.

The canals severely encroached include Segunbagichha canal, Mohakhali canal, Shahjahanpur canal, Begunbari canal, Jirani canal, Kalyanpur canal, Ramchandrapur canal, Khilgaon-Bashabo canal, Abdullahpur canal and Ibrahimpur canal.

The canal reclamation drive first began in March last year. Occupants of the canal area at that time tried to resist the demolition drive in Segunbagichha canal.

In the drive, Wasa reclaimed Kantasur canal, Mohakhali and Gulshan-Banani canal, Ramchandrapur canal, Kalyanpur branch canal, and Begunbari canal.

The reclamation drive last year did not yield much success as the encroachers returned a few days later and rebuilt their structures.

The eviction and reclamation drive, that was supposed to resume in last December, was postponed in the face of the WB precondition. Wasa sources said compliance with the WB precondition would encourage the encroachers.