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MP filling up pond

Rajshahi dev authority serves fresh notice on him

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi
The Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA) yesterday served a notice against ruling party lawmaker Enamul Haque, directing him to re-excavate the huge pond he had illegally been filling up in Meherchandi area in the city here, ignoring warnings twice.
Azmeri Ashrafi, town planner of RDA, issued the notice against the lawmaker from Rajshahi-4 (Bagmara) constituency asking him to re-excavate the pond on some 30 bighas of land within 10 working days following receipt of the notice.
The fresh notice was issued as the lawmaker did not respond to two previous warnings, including a notice by the RDA in this regard.
Ashrafi told The Daily Star that the RDA had on January 26 on an information slip warned Enamul that filling up of the pond would be illegal. It then served him a notice in the first week of February asking him to desist from filling up the water body. It sought an explanation from him.
She mentioned that filling up a pond or any water body without approval from the Department of Environment (DoE) is prohibited by the Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act of2010.
Besides that, there is a recent High Court rule against filling up of water bodies in the interest of protecting the environment of Rajshahi city, the planner said.
The pond in question, however, does not fall under the protected 165 ponds declared in2004.
Nonetheless, Enamul, who is also the owner of the real estate firm Ena Properties, has been filling up the pond with sand and earth in trucks every day since early February, reportedly for erecting a multistoried building.
Visiting the spot yesterday, this correspondent saw a major portion of the pond was being filled up with sand and earth, and two signboards hung by the pond.
One signboard declares Enamul Haque MP to be the owner of the land while the other suggests the land will be used for the proposed 'Saleha Imarat Hospital and College'.
The pond has been known locally as Sukan Dighi over the years.
The MR however, told The Daily Star that RDA had no right to serve notices as the land was not earmarked as a pond in land documents.
"It was rather a paddy field. I own it and so I have the right to do whatever I like to do on it," claimed the lawmaker.
Enamul claimed he had bought the land ten years back, while locals say he purchased the pond after he was elected an MP in 2008.
The Awami League lawmaker also said he was not aware of any RDA notices and the High Court rule.
The High Court in a ruling on February 9 summoned the RDA chairman and its chief executive officer over their failure to follow a previous ruling to stop filling up of ponds.
In December 2010, a High Court bench through a rule prohibited the filling up of ponds and other water bodies under the RDA area without the approval of the DoE. The rule was issued following a writ petition lodged by Mahbubul Kuddus Siddiki, president of Heritage Rajshahi.
Contacted by The Daily Star, RDA chairman Abdur Rahim said the RDA was not favouring the lawmaker. “We are doing the same as we do about any other person."