Thanks to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority’s (BIWTA) continuous eviction drives on the banks of the rivers surrounding the capital Dhaka. A vast majority of the encroached lands that belong to Buriganga, Turag and Shitalakhya and Meghna, have been recovered in uncompromising eviction drives.
The BIWTA seems to be determined to accomplish its mission of evicting the illegal land grabbers. The corporation has already dismantled scores of structures built illegally along these rivers and knocked down several dredgers that were being used to fill the rivers in question with sand.
BIWTA officials deputed to oversee the eviction drives were often found fearlessly carrying out their job ignoring threats from the powerful quarters in some cases. In its recent missions, BIWTA has been developing the recovered land for recreational purposes. It constructed beautiful walkways along with four-lane roads along both the banks of the Buriganga River.
Under a new Tk850 crore project, the government would set up some 12,000 demarcation pillars along the rivers around the capital to protect them from encroachment. Under the project, the government would build 50km-long walkways, plant trees along the walkways and set up three eco-parks at Shinnirtek, Tongi, and Ashulia.
