Editorial
Bridge fallout
No mercy to encroachers
A perfectly well-intentioned Shahid Buddhijeebi Bridge on the Buriganga linking Keraniganj has led to frenzied encroachment on khas land and a canal. A much-needed infrastructure link when materializing, instead of paying desired dividends, turns out to be counter-productive. In the first place, tales of corruption might have been spun around the construction process itself. Then when we have it, it acts as a trigger for a whole series of unlawful activities: encroachment, unauthorized earth-filling, hyped real estate business and obliteration of wetlands and canals.
This is a pity. Can't there be an unalloyed piece of benign development work? Has it got to be an instrument of self-destruction in the hands of the greedy and the influential who are out to make money on the quick? The environmental fallouts of land and canal grabbing are extremely debilitating for all life forms, aside from choking natural drainage of waters and badly impacting ecology.
The government must go into the matter whole-heartedly as it has become a favourite pastime with people close to power to play around with immoveable property like khas land. This is public land but they turn it into private holding by merely drilling a pillar or erecting structure with a signboard thinking their claim to the land is established.
There is no dearth of laws to apply against the encroachers: Wetland Protection Act, 2000 and Environment Preservation Act (amendment), 2010. The DoE and RAJUK should carry out a clean-up drive. They can invoke a High Court order to stop earth-filling and advertising and sale of plots by unauthorised private housing projects.
If need be, land development projects may be undertaken but those must have received prior approval of the government. At all costs, the khas land's character as public property will have to be firmly protected.
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