Gulshan, Baridhara to be linked to Hatirjeel soon

Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharaf Hossain yesterday said the government has planned to connect Gulshan, Banani and Bharidara to Hatirjheel through service roads soon, reports BSS. 
"Rajdhani Unnayan Katrtipakkha (RAJUK) has taken a project involving Taka 410 crores to this end," he told reporters while visiting the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara area. 
The main objectives of the project is lake excavation for increasing water capacity and purification of polluted water, freeing lakes from grabbers and facilitating water retention in the lakes along with some beautification aspects. The housing minister said the governments in the past had shrunk the lakes by earth filling for giving plots to party men in political consideration. After coming to power in 1996, he said, the Awami League government had stopped illegal encroachment by constructing walkways on the bank of the lakes.  However, the successive governments' further allocated plots by filling lakes without completion of the project, he added.
"We have planned to set up water treatment plants to purify the polluted water in the lakes. The public works ministry has been setting up its own treatment plants for waste management in its own works," Mosharraf said.  In 2001, the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake area was declared as ecologically critical. The High Court directed the government to stop dumping of wastes into the lake and ordered demarcation of the entire lake and construction of walkways. The housing minister also visited Banani lake adjacent to road no 18, 20, 22 and 24, Banani Bridge, Karail slum, Mohakhali linked bridge, Nikunja Bridge and other areas. He asked RAJUK authorities to conduct eviction drive immediately to remove illegal occupants and installations from the areas. 

Gulshan, Baridhara to be linked to Hatirjeel soon

Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharaf Hossain yesterday said the government has planned to connect Gulshan, Banani and Bharidara to Hatirjheel through service roads soon, reports BSS. Rajdhani Unnayan Katrtipakkha (RAJUK) has taken a project involving Taka 410 crores to this end, he told reporters while visiting the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara area. The main objectives of the project is lake excavation for increasing water capacity and purification of polluted water, freeing lakes from grabbers and facilitating water retention in the lakes along with some beautification aspects. The housing minister said the governments in the past had shrunk the lakes by earth filling for giving plots to party men in political consideration. After coming to power in 1996, he said, the Awami League government had stopped illegal encroachment by constructing walkways on the bank of the lakes. However, the successive governments further allocated plots by filling lakes without completion of the project, he added. We have planned to set up water treatment plants to purify the polluted water in the lakes. The public works ministry has been setting up its own treatment plants for waste management in its own works, Mosharraf said. In 2001, the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake area was declared as ecologically critical. The High Court directed the government to stop dumping of wastes into the lake and ordered demarcation of the entire lake and construction of walkways. The housing minister also visited Banani lake adjacent to road no 18, 20, 22 and 24, Banani Bridge, Karail slum, Mohakhali linked bridge, Nikunja Bridge and other areas. He asked RAJUK authorities to conduct eviction drive immediately to remove illegal occupants and installations from the areas.