& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Sangu River

Illegal structures eating up banks

Our Correspondent, Bandarban
The lush green and picturesque banks of the Sangu river are fast fading amidst the ever-growing numbers of makeshift and permanent structures built by land grabbers.
The structures are mainly concentrated in Bandarban sadar area through which the 173-kilometre
Sangu traverses after entering Bangladesh through Thanchi upazila and before flowing into the Bay of Bengal near the Karnaphuli river.
The Daily Star observed around 600 such structures in Sawmill, Ujani Para, Barisal Para, Madhyam Para, Bazar Ghat, Boat Ghata, Mohammadpur, and Islampur, all on the foreshores of the river.
In mid-2009, river encroachment and construction of unauthorised structures on the rivers, including foreshores, were declared illegal by a High Court verdict.
The majority of the shacks belong to people of the low-income group, who move out during the monsoon as the river overflows its banks.
Most owners of the concrete struc-
tures The Daily Star talked to recently claim that they own the land or that it has been leased out to them by the district council
Kazi Mujibur Rahman, secretary of the district unit Awami League, whose five-storey hotel is on the bank of the river in Islampur, said he got a lease from the council.
Ukil Ahmed Chowdhury, whose
three-storey building stands in Bazar Ghat, blatantly claimed that they built the structure by "managing to keep the authorities concerned mum”.
Bandarban Deputy Commissioner KM Tariqul Islam says no land on the riverbanks has been leased out and the grabbers have simply taken advantage of the fact that the river is yet to be
demarcated.
He said a committee led by Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Mohammad Faruk Hossain had been formed last month to identify the illegal structures.
When The Daily Star asked about its progress, Faruk said they were yet to identify the structures and hoped to get a list made by mid-September.