A section of Rampura Canal is being filled with earth for construction of structures, significantly narrowing down the canal.Photo: STAR

The authorities of Aftabnagar housing project have once again started narrowing Rampura Canal in the name of levelling its bank for building a walkway behind the studio of Bangladesh Television opposite Banasree Housing Project.
The housing development company is also claiming new lands by filling up new areas of the canal.
But, AKM Rezaul Karim, general manager of Eastern Housing, the developer of Aftabnagar, said, "The bank of the canal eroded, so we are repairing it."
The same housing company had filled up entire Badda Canal nearby and built a road over it for their housing project there.
The government however recovered the canal and is now reclaiming it spending Tk 2.2 crore under Dhaka Circular Waterway project.
Rampura Canal is the only drainage for storm water in the mid-city area of the capital.
Storm water in the city is drained out to the Balu River through Hatirjheel and Rampura canals.
Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha (Rajuk) and some other government agencies have also been working on Hatirjheel Project.
While visiting Aftabnagar recently, The Daily Star correspondent saw 10 to 12 workers working on the bank of the canal. The workers said they had already dumped more than 100 trucks of soil on the bank.
When asked, how much of the canal they were going to fill up, a worker showed a destination point at least two feet into the canal.
Eastern Housing authorities however said the work was going on for building a walkway on the bank.
"We will build a four feet walkway on the bank," said engineer Md Harun-ur Rashid, assistant general manager of Eastern Housing Ltd, adding that they will maintain 167 feet canal width according to the government requirements.
Earlier, the housing company had put slabs on the slope of the canal bank, but recently they took those out and is now filling up more of the canal for 'levelling the bank, before handing over plots to the buyers'.
In block A of Aftabnagar, a six-storey building is already up, but there is no walkway space left between the canal and the building. The building owner also dumped rubbles into the canal behind the building.
Local residents fear, if government authorities do not take proper actions, the developer will continue to fill up more of Rampura Canal.