Eviction drive to free the banks of Buriganga river on third day

The drive to evict encroachers from the banks of Buriganga river has continued in Dhaka's Kamrangirchar for the third day.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority or BIWTA has been demolishing buildings in areas under Dhaka river port jurisdiction in “an effort to conserve the river banks permanently”.  

Thursday's drive began around 9:00am at Loharpul of Kamrangirchar and Lalbagh’s Kamalbag area. 

At least 50 illegal structures have been razed on the third day of the drive, said BIWTA Joint Director Md Arifur Rahman.

At least 252 structures were razed at Nababchar on Tuesday, and another 211 were demolished at Koylaghat and Islambagh on Wednesday, he said. The drives will continue until Feb 19.

Earlier, a three-day drive that began on Jan 29 saw to the demolition of 444 illegal structures including multi-storey buildings, said the BIWTA.

The authorities have marked for demolition 609 illegal structures lining the banks of the Buriganga between Sadarghat and Gabtoli, said Joint Director Md Arifur Rahman.

"These include 56 multi-storey buildings. Our first priority is to remove these multi-storey structures. Permanent measures will be taken to preserve the river banks after the lands are reclaimed,” he said. 

The BIWTA said walkways would be built along the river banks to mark boundaries and trees would be planted there to prevent future attempts of encroachment.