Illegal tin-shed houses are mushrooming encroaching the Rupnagar main canal at Pallabi.Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

Due to a lax rescue effort by the authorities, land grabbers are filling up the Rupnagar main canal at Pallabi by constructing road and tin-shed houses across the canal.
This unauthorised grabbing of the canal has worried locals as they fear the area would be waterlogged permanently if the canal is blocked in such a way.
The natural canal carries sewages and stormwater of West Shewrapara, Kazipara, Monipur, Mirpur Section 2 and Rupnagar residential areas, Duaripara and Alokdi villages, and discharges them into the river Turag.
The canal has virtually turned into a sewerage line at several places near Manipur and is now facing massive filling up in Rupnagar residential area.
Locals alleged the influential land grabbers are not only destroying the drainage system and environment but also deteriorating law and order in the area.
The gangs often fight for the possession of the grabbed land and toll collection, said Mokhlesur Rahman, a resident of road-27 in Rupnagar residential area.
New land-grabber gangs are emerging with sets of so-called documents on land rights. For protecting the land they hire musclemen who create trouble, the locals alleged.
“Due to the mindless filling up of the canal we are fearing permanent waterlogging in the whole area,” said Shahidul Alam, a house owner of road-28.
He mentioned that scores of trucks have been engaged by the land grabbers for carrying sand for filling up the canal since the last couple of weeks. The heavy trucks have already destructed several roads and sewerage lines in the area.
ABM Osman Ghani, president of Rupnagar House Owners' Association, said all this illegal activities are being done under the authorities' nose.
“Land-grabber gangs are destructing our canal, roads and social environment. There is no eviction drive. We have applied to the National Housing Authority (NHA), Pallabi Police Station and DCC for taking action, but nothing has been done,” he noted.
Ghani said the house owners' association is contemplating filing cases in the environment court against the land grabbers and the authorities concerned for killing the canal.
About a year ago the government directed the authorities to free the canal from illegal grabbers after several reports on this issue were published in the Star City.
Dhaka Division-1 of the NHA is supposed to demark the canal and conduct eviction drive against the illegal occupiers and then hand it over to Wasa for maintenance.
However, the decision is yet to be implemented and even no date has been fixed for the planned eviction drive to rescue the canal from illegal occupiers.
According to the master plan of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works which was designed in 1984 for the Rupnagar residential area, the western part of the allotted plots are designated for the main drainage canal.
The canal helps groundwater recharging and without it the whole area could suffer a crisis of water for daily use or during fire incidents in future, he cautioned. "If the main drainage canal is completely blocked, the sewerage system will also collapse."
About the illegal filling up of the canal by the land grabbers, Nurul Islam, chief executive engineer of the Dhaka Division-1 of NHA said the NHA has filed several general dairies with Pallabi Police Station in this connection.
This correspondent found some influential people occupied the whole space of the ring road around the canal and shrunk it into 2/3 feet wide at several points.
Now a cooperative association of the employees of a pharmaceutical company is constructing a road by filling up the canal.
This correspondent talked to some people from different groups who are claiming ownership of the land. All of them claimed that they have genuine documents on the land rights but officials at the NHA said no private land exists there.
According to sources at the Pallabi Police Station, last week a clash took place between two groups over land rights. Two cases were lodged after the incident.
Mohammad Abdul Momin, officer-in-charge at Pallabi Police Station, said merely filing general dairies will not help rescue the canal. “NHA has to come forward to identify the land grabbers and seek our help to rescue the canal,” he said.
He said the police have advised the warring groups to solve their problem in the court. “We are not the authority to verify land documents. If NHA needs police to evict the illegal grabbers from the canal, we will certainly help them.”