Rajuk starts drive to free Gulshan lake

Workers knock down a structure by the Gulshan lake (top) & A Rajuk earth remover clearing the Gulshan lake area (bottom). PHOTO: STAR

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), backed by the joint forces, launched the day's drive yesterday morning from the Gulshan South Park point. Public Works Secretary ASM Rashidul Hai led the drive.

The lake would be reclaimed at the points where land grabbers have choked it by earth filling, said Chief Engineer of Rajuk Emdadul Islam. "We are removing the earth filled illegally in the lake to reclaim the crucial water body."

"We have already evicted the illegal occupancy on the fringe of the lake area and now we are excavating the earth-filled areas to restore its original expanse as per the Rajuk map."

Rajuk prepared the map of the lake in 1997 along with the lake development project.

Following a number of cases filed by plot claimants, Rajuk prepared the lake's layout and produced it to the High Court that ordered conservation of the lake as per the layout.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court around two years back upheld a map of the lake and ordered the Town Planning section of the Rajuk to implement it. The said layout of the lake marked the banks straight, according to sources.

A top official of the Town Planning section said Rajuk later on brought some changes to the layout of the lake because of its existing zigzag condition.

The pathway is being constructed in a bad shape as the authorities cannot maintain alignment of the lake bank as per the layout certified by the court, said a source at Rajuk.

Rajuk started its Tk 5 crore second phase of work for walkway around a year ago while the project proposal for lake development is yet to be approved by the government.

The city development authority has meantime earth-filled three to four kilometres of the lake bank in an extremely zigzag course, giving a very peculiar look to the lake.

Usually, the land grabbers make attempts to manipulate the LA (land acquisition) case no-10 to grab the lake and its adjoining wetlands. But the court said in its verdict that even if some land were derequisitioned, any wetlands would remain as it is.

Chairman of Rajuk KAM Haroon said that they have taken the Rajuk's layout of the lake to restore it in its original form. "We are now clearing the illegal filling of the water body to immediately start the construction work of walkway."

He said that Rajuk has already cancelled partially the allotments of three to four plots to facilitate the reclamation of the lake.

This time the reclamation is being carried out under the water conservation act mainly. "Later on, we will carry out further development of the lake if the government approves project proposal, already submitted in this regard," Haroon said.

Interestingly, Rajuk itself allotted extra land for encroaching into the lake on demand from powerful plot owners on different occasions, according to sources.

Admitting that there is no provision for such allotment of extra land, Haroon said earlier, "Now, there is hardly anything to do against the allotments already issued."

Regarding some high-rise buildings constructed by influential quarters encroaching upon the lake, he said they will take decision after the ongoing court cases are settled.

The land grabbers have regularly earth filled chunks of the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake and erected concrete and makeshift structures.

A well-organised syndicate of influential land grabbers in connivance with some sections of government officials, including some of the Rajuk, has been active in grabbing expensive land across the city, according to sources.

The syndicate resorts to various fake means and legal tangles to manage derequisition and transfer of land to some private owners.

Frequent infringements by land grabbers into the lake are forcing the under-construction pathway to go in an extreme irregular course without a proper configuration.