HELEMUL ALAM

The Dhaka South City Corporation has decided to revive its four-canal development project with a modified demarcation approach. Initially, the project was to follow the Bangladesh Water Act 2013, which requires keeping a 10-metre buffer from water to determine a river’s width.

However, due to challenges and delays, DSCC will now use cadastral survey maps, incorporating revised survey maps only when necessary.

This change will spare around 1,439 illegal structures that would have faced demolition under the original plan.

Under the revised plan, 52 illegal structures will be removed instead of 470 in the Shyampur canal, 10 structures will be removed instead of 266 in the Jirani canal, 10 structures will be removed instead of 581 in the Manda canal, and 77 structures will be removed instead of 271 in the Kalunagar canal.

The Ecnec initially approved the Tk 898.73 crore project on October 21, 2022.

Aimed at reducing Dhaka’s waterlogging, the project covers the restoration of four canals -- Kalunagar, Jirani, Manda, and Shyampur -- spanning a total length of 19.78 km.

DSCC officials argue that implementing the project under the Water Act would have been time-consuming due to extensive encroachments.

“It was practically impossible to follow the act. Demolishing so many structures would have taken a long time,” said DSCC Superintendent Engineer Mohammad Safiullah Siddique Bhuiyan.

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