Around 200 illegal structures have been demolished in a six-hour operation from the Kasturaghat area of the Bankkhali River, the heart of Cox’s Bazar town. The operation lasted from 11 am to 5 pm today, Monday. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) conducted the operation as per the directions of the High Court.
BIWTA Deputy Director (Ports) Nayan Shil told Prothom Alo, “In the first day’s drive until 5 pm, about 200 illegal structures have been demolished from the Kasturaghat section of the river. Of these, more than a hundred pucca and semi-pucca houses built on 5 acres of land have been demolished. In the next 4 days of drive, 2,000 more illegal structures will be demolished. We want to return the river to its place.”
Apart from BIWTA, members of the district administration, army, coast guard, RAB, police and the Department of Environment participated in the operation. Four executive magistrates of the district administration led separate operations.
According to district administration and BIWTA sources, on August 24, the High Court ordered the government to prepare a list of all encroachers along the banks of the Bankkhali River, evict illegal structures within four months, and take effective measures to control pollution.
On August 30, during a visit to Cox’s Bazar, Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, Advisor to the Ministry of Shipping and Labor, instructed the concerned to prepare a list of illegal encroachers of the Bankkhali River and evict illegal structures as per the High Court’s directives.
Earlier, on April 24, two advisors, M. Sakhawat Hossain and Syeda Rezwana Hasan, visited the Bankkhali River on site and expressed disappointment at the state of pollution caused by encroachment.
Cox’s Bazar Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Nizam Uddin Ahmed said, “As per the High Court order, the Bankkhali River is being de-encroached upon. The river’s boundaries will be determined after all illegal structures are demolished.”
Eviction of pucca and semi-pucca houses
Upon visiting the spot in the afternoon, it was found that more than a hundred pucca and semi-pucca houses built in the Kasturaghat area had been demolished by several excavators. Many residents were seen removing belongings from their homes before the eviction drive began.
On the orders of the High Court, the district administration carried out a joint drive on February 28 and March 1, 2023, to evict more than five hundred illegal structures. At that time, more than 300 acres of para forest land along the Bankkhali River were de-encroached. A few days later, more than six hundred houses, shops and other structures were built on the evicted para land. Many have surrounded hundreds of acres of wetlands with tin fences.
According to information provided by BIWTA, the government declared 721 acres of land on the banks of the Bankkhali River as a river port through a notification on February 6, 2010. The district administration was instructed to hand over the 721 acres of land to BIWTA. But that work did not get done due to encroachment and pollution.
The Department of Environment said that on June 15, 2022, the Department of Environment filed a case against 36 illegal occupants. Before that, three more cases were filed against at least 70 occupants. But except for two, no accused were caught.
Jamir Uddin, director of the Chittagong region of the Department of Environment, said that in accordance with the High Court’s orders, a list is being prepared against the illegal structures as well as the occupants. A case will then be filed.
BIWTA Cox’s Bazar office assistant director Md. Khairuzzaman said that a special eviction operation has been launched from September 1 to remove all illegal structures on the river and restore its normal flow. There has been no joint operation with the presence of the army in the last three decades.
Source: Prothom Alo
