Filling continues in Turag River, Dhaka, Bangladesh
About 12 years ago, the High Court Division directed the government to restore the Turag River and three other (Buriganga River, Shitalakshya River, and Dhaleshwari River) riverine areas around Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. It will take more time to implement that directive.
More surprisingly, a government agency has filled a portion of Turag in Ashulia, the northwest side of Dhaka. They claim that this was done “accidentally” during the implementation of a development project. Though the Dhaka Ashulia Expressway project authorities claimed that the contractor did this without consulting with them
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), which manages the river in the port area, completed the four rivers’ demarcation just a few months ago.
From the field observation, it is apparent that the river situated near the north side of BIWTA river port at Asulia and the junction of Dhaka-Ashulia Road has been filled by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority.
The bridge authority has filled an area of about 100 yards on the Dhaka-Ashulia Road. According to the locals, the government agency worked on this for about a month.
Kazi Wakil Newaz, the Director of BIWTA (Ports and Transport), said, “The Dhaka-Ashulia Expressway project authorities did not seek permission from them before filling the river area. They (bridge authorities) will probably apply to us to use the area for their project.”
Shahabuddin Khan, the Dhaka-Ashulia Expressway project director, said, “The contractor has filled the river land without consulting us.
I have inspected the area yesterday and instructed the contractor to stop the work. If they require any land (for the project), we will talk to BIWTA before starting work again.”
He also informed that a Chinese company was working as a contractor. They (contractors) probably filled this area by mistake.
