A dangerous way to live
Where is the administration?
A picture in the front page of this paper, apart from speaking a thousand words, demonstrates the utter negligence of duty and indifference to the need to ensure public safety by the BIWTA and the local administration, as well as the gross disregard of the public for their own safety. The picture depicts a row of houses on the Beribadh Road, partly demolished by the BIWTA as part of its drive against illegal occupants of the Beribadh. These houses were demolished eight months ago but have since been reoccupied by the owners who are living in them, putting their lives at risk. This is not the first time that we are seeing such a picture. For example, the owners of houses demolished to free the bank of the Turag reoccupied the half-destroyed houses as soon as the drive had ended.
Understandably, neither the BIWTA nor any other government agency can pull down any more portion of the structure than what is illegally on government land. However, the responsibility of the BIWTA or the local administration does not end with merely pulling down part of an illegally built structure. A partly destroyed house is more dangerous than a badly built one. And it is the responsibility of the BIWTA, the local administration and the law enforcing agencies to ensure that these structures are not reoccupied. Either the owners should be compelled to demolish the structure altogether and vacate it or it should be ensured that these are not reoccupied for living. Is it not the responsibility of the administration to keep people from putting their lives in harm’s way?
