The capital’s development agency took control of the 15-storey building and sealed it off on Tuesday evening after its occupants removed their stuff throughout the day.
RAJUK officials arrived at the site in the morning, accompanied by a large posse of law enforcement as the court deadline for the demolition passed on Apr 12.
“Our bulldozers and other vehicles are ready to start the demolition job,” Khandaker Waliur Rahman, director (administration) in RAJUK, told bdnews24.com.
“This is part of the demolishment work. It will take some time to shift their stuff as there are many offices in the building. We’ll begin to dismantle the building once they shift their stuff,” he added.
Trucks loaded with furniture and other things were seen leaving the site until evening.
The gas, power, water, telephone and other utility connections to the building will be cut off before the start of the demolition, Wailiur said.
The authorities will use “modern technology” to demolish the building, according to him. “It could be dynamites or other means used to demolish the building.”
Recalling the incident, Raihanul said RAJUK will be on “maximum alert” this time and take help of Chinese engineers.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association or BGMEA has now built another building, a 13-storey one on a 1.81-acre land at Uttara, as its headquarters after getting several extensions from the court to shift.
While opening the new building last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she had asked the garment industry lobby to not build its headquarters on the water body in Hatirjheel adjacent to Sonargaon Hotel during her 1996-2000 tenure.
“The BGMEA Bhaban is like a cancer in the Hatirjheel project and if the building is not taken down immediately, it will infect not just Hatirjheel but the entire Dhaka City,” the court said in its verdict.
It also said the reason behind “sparing a certain influential quarter with strong financial support beyond the reach of the law is completely unacceptable”.
The full verdict was available two years later, when the BGMEA moved the Appellate Division against the ruling.
On Jun 2, 2016, the Supreme Court turned down the petition and upheld the High Court's verdict.