No tangible initiative has been taken yet to demolish the 147 illegal structures that have been constructed on both banks of the Bhola canal in defiance of government orders and a High Court verdict.
Thanks to the continuous grabbing of lands on both banks of the canal and construction of permanent buildings there, the canal has become a narrow drain, said sources. Locals said the Betua river, now known as the Bhola canal, was some 60 feet wide in 1945, but is now just 20 to 25 feet wide, thanks to continuous encroachments and construction of buildings over the years by influential people.
Again, as garbage and waste have been continuously dumped and siltation has occurred in the Bhola canal, it has lost its navigability. Now is a dangerous breeding ground for mosquitoes. Owing to the pollution caused by the canal, residents face health hazards everyday. Passers-by complain of bad odours.
During this time, Bhola residents organised agitations several times to recover lands from encroachers. Yet, the authorities did not take any initiative to evict the encroachers and land grabbers.
In 2015, the Barisal unit of the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers’ Association (BELA) filed a writ with the High Court, seeking demolition of illegal structures on both sides of the canal.
The HC ordered 14 local departments, including the administration, municipality and land departments, to conduct drives and demolish illegal structures from the lands, in a verdict passed on May 4, 2015.
M. Ruhul Amin, assistant commissioner (land) of Bhola Sadar, said they have already started preparing a list of land grabbers and demarcating the borders of the canal in accordance with the HC order. He added that 102 structures were identified during a survey in Bhola municipality, all of which had been constructed by grabbing canal land.
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed has directed the local administration to recover the canal lands from occupation by illegal structures and government lands from possession of land-grabbers, sources also said.
Bhola municipality mayor Monir-Uz-Zaman said they would re-excavate the canal to promote trade and facilitate movement of cargo vessels and boats.