The dark side of Dhanmondi Lake
The stretch of Dhanmondi lake which remains in utter neglect, with litter and construction material indiscriminately dumped by its banks
The Chief Town Planner of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has no clue regarding the development project of Dhanmondi lake area, expanding over three kilometers in the heart of the megacity Dhaka.
“My department has never been involved in any lake development project of the city, please ask the engineering department,” says Sirajul Islam, the Chief Town Planner of Dhaka about Dhanmondi Lake, one of the most popular destinations for thousands of people in a city almost devoid of open spaces.
The Engineering Department did not have much clue either. “I have been recently posted here; I shall have to investigate the matter,” says Tanvir Ahmad, Executive Engineer of the DSCC. He however added that Bangladesh Army Engineers have recently completed a Tk. 24 crore project on the lake and they have handed over the completed parts to the city corporation.
While the authorities look elsewhere, a 300-meter stretch of the lake is left to rot. From Road no. 32 Bridge up to the end, with road no. 27 in the northernend, unfolds the dark side of Dhanmondi Lake. It is a story of utter neglect compared to the rest of the waterbody. Here, the lake is narrowed down to a trickle with litter floating on its dirty
Individuals can be seen dumping their waste on the banks of Dhanmondi Lake, adding rubbish to this neglected side.
water. The lake on this part has no walkway on the western side for mysterious reasons. It was never excavated in any development project. A large part of the lake area has been taken over by the powerful employees association of the Public Works Department (PWD) employees on the western side. The employees have built their own shacks with a mosque in it and have been living there for decades. Piles of blasts from construction sites have encroached the water body just behind the Dhanmondi Ideal Police Station.
From any of the two bridges of Road no. 8 and road no. 32, the water body right up to Jhigatola looks picturesque. Although according to a study conducted by a teacher of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Abu Borhan M Badruzzaman, the water of the lake is contaminated by a high concentration of lead.
Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Dhanmondi, says this part of the lake is somehow the most neglected part of Dhanmondi Lake, which has seen projects worth nearly Tk. 100 crore since 1997.
“They have built a walkway on the eastern part after recovering land from the residents and recently the army engineers built a walkway bridge over it connecting Road 15 with Road 15a on the western side, but nothing else is right here,” Rahman says.
The mysterious markings on the recently painted trees in the area
“We have no idea why the western part of the lake on this stretch has not been developed at all,” Rahman adds.
This part of the lake is so obscure from the authorities that recently a mysterious resident of Road 15 financed painting of most of the trees along the road and lake. Then he posted a message on them, meaning of which is best known to him.
Story and Photos by Morshed Ali Khan
Short URL: https://reportsbd.com/?p=629
Posted by Reportsbd
on Nov 26 2015. Filed under Environment, Home Slide.
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