People should make government accountable to protect riverside embankments

Several establishments have been constructed on the Town Protection Dam alongside the Brahmaputra in Mymensingh city. Even though it has been years, the authorities haven’t stepped up to remove them, alleged locals. Influential people of the area are building houses and shops on the embankment in the city. In almost every case, we see political clout involved in river bank encroachment.
In Mymensingh, locals alleged that the embankment’s walkway has also been blocked by scrap shops, disrupting pedestrian movement. In the last couple of years, a good portion of the walkway has been blocked in the area and many pillars of the walkway have been broken down for easy entrance to the illegally constructed houses. Local civil society personnel said that if the embankment is used for building houses and shops for people’s personal gain, it will surely affect the embankment when the river swells up during monsoons. If this trend continues, many more houses and shops would be built on the embankment, creating a serious nuisance for city residents and the environment.
From time to time BIWTA (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority) evicts illegal structures erected on the bank of Buriganga, Turag, and Shitalakhsa in Dhaka and outskirts cities. Politically influential people usually establish buildings to grab the lands and rent those out for profiteering money. However, influential people reconstruct buildings overnight.
In many cases, constructing structures inside the river boundary demarcation pillar is irrational and illegal. Administrative and political commitment, rules of law, and the establishment of good governance with the accountability of political parties can effectively resist land grabbing and illegal structure construction. We must say the government agencies should conduct regular dives and should not bow down before any power in delivering their mandated services. And the local people should guard their rights to having a livable city.