Little headway in restoring Old Buriganga channel

City Desk :
The restoration work of old Buriganga channel near Kamrangirchar has not seen any significant progress in the last eight months.
The Dhaka South City Corporation began the project in June, 2022 but the initial works are yet to be completed. The project includes demarcation activities, eviction drives, re-excavation and waste disposal.
The old channel, which has lost its glory to pollution and encroachment, is located in the middle of Shahidnagar-Hazari bagh embankment (from the main Buriganga River) of Old Dhaka and Kamrangirchar, reports UNB.
Various structures were built occupying the two sides of the area of about 7 kilometers.
However, to give the old Buriganga back its glory, the DSCC took an initiative to reclaim the channel from encroachers in June last year. Almost a year has elapsed but the authorities are still working on the initial phase.
Talking to UNB, some DSCC officials said they are committed to recover the channel from illegal occupiers.
The DSCC authorities have taken a project to restore the old channel of the Buriganga, also known as the capital’s lifeline, in three phases, costing almost Tk 22 crore, they said.
They said the recovery of the channel will free Dhaka’s Hazaribagh, Lalbagh, Dhanmondi, and Kamrangirchar from waterlogging.
The seven-kilometer-long channel will also make it easier for Dhaka residents to commute from Buriganga to the Turag River and the transportation of goods will be easy due to the reduction in cost.
According to the DSCC, walkways and separate cycle lanes will be built on both sides of the channel.
During an election rally at Kamrangirchar on December 24, 2018, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged to take steps to recover the old Buriganga channel from encroachers. She also instructed the mayor to take necessary measures to make it happen.