Evicting illegal structures have been ineffective

A picture published in The Daily Star on November 27 depicting a part of an illegal market building on the Dhaka-Aricha highway in Savar Thana Stand being bulldozed by the Roads and Highways department does not give us much hope that the place that has been reclaimed by the authorities will remain clear for long. A similar picture published in this daily on November 26 shows that law enforcers are dismantling shops set up alongside the rail track in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar. Such eviction drives carried out by the various government agencies fail to make an impact eventually, because the structures that are demolished to clear the roads or reclaim government land are reoccupied in no time.

From several news reports and pictures published in this daily as well as other local newspapers over the years, we have learnt how such mobile court drives to evict illegal structures built on the riverbanks had failed to reclaim the land of the rivers. The reasons for the authorities’ failure are also very clear. One, the grabbers are the local powerful elite who wield power over the local police and the administration. Two, in many cases, the local administration is also a party to such illegal acts. And three, there is no monitoring mechanism in place to make sure that the reclaimed lands are not reoccupied.

Moreover, the way illegal structures—on footpaths, roads, alongside railway tracks and on the riverbanks—are cleared and then reoccupied over and over again gives us the impression that there are underhand dealings between those who occupy the government land and the agencies that evict the illegal occupiers. The government must understand that just breaking the illegal structures is not enough. In order to make sure that the drives have a long-lasting impact, the whole system must be brought under the purview of law. And those involved in land-grabbing must be punished according to the law.