Turag riverbank landuse and encroachment
Top-Bottom: A housing project near Mohammadpur filling the Turag river bank for developing housing plot.
Intentional filling of Turag river bank by brickfield.
Simply put land-use is human modification of natural environment into built environment such as, field, pasture, and settlements. But different developments along any river flowing beside a mega city like Dhaka essentially moots investigation of the riverbank land use. The riverfront land use of the Turag River, particularly from Buriganga Third Bridge to Tongi Bridge, has been roughly studied by the writer to know whether there has been any relationship between riverbank use and riverbank encroachment.
Land-use of almost all major categories except the administrative one has been found in the study area. The study area covers a total of 100 acres of which 26.23% is occupied by agricultural use, 19.45% by commercial use, 4.997% by educational, cultural, and recreational use, 16.23% by industrial use and 22.70% by residential use. The area of land under other uses is 10.39%.
Commercial use: Here commercial land use mainly refers to building materials (sand, bricks, and stones) depot and sale center and coal depot and sale center. Due to downpour and overland flow for longer hours, a portion, sometimes a significant portion of the building materials including sand, brick and stone chips piled along the riverbanks get into the river and cause riverbank, even river channel filling. Besides, at the time of loading to and unloading from cargo vessels, a considerable portion of these materials fall on the slope of the riverbank and intentionally or unintentionally left there. These slide and fall of building materials ultimately cause river-bank and river-channel encroachment. Later, the ownership of the encroached lands informally goes to the grabbers. Such filling of river bank by building materials is frequently found near the Gabtali BIWTA Landing Station and the Gabtali Bridge.
Industrial use: The main industrial land uses along the banks of the Turag are brickfields, stone and brick crushing centers. These land uses lead to river encroachment in different ways. Many brickfields throw their rejected bricks and brick bats on the slope of the river bank that ultimately leads to bank filling. Sometimes, the brickfield owners intentionally fill river bank to extend their working space so that it becomes easy for the buyers to load the bricks in the cargo ships. Sometimes, ill-motived brickfield owners even occupy the char developed in the middle of the river channel and establish brickfields there. Just such an occurrence took place near Bashila. Brick and stone crushing mills are most often placed just on the river bank. Their brick and stone particles roll down the river bank and cause bank filling. One can usually find this occurring if one makes a travel from Gabtali Bridge to Adabar by boat.
Residential use: Residential land use is also responsible for encroachment on the river. Those who have riverside settlements want to maximize the extent of settlement by encroaching on the river bank bit by bit over time. A section of the local influentials build slum type thatched houses, sometimes tin-shed buildings encroaching upon river bank and rent out to the low income people like the garment workers and rickshaw pullers. Housing projects are also habituated in encroachment. Many housing projects have developed along the Turag River. Many of them increase their project area by filling river bank or river feeding canals, it is alleged.
Educational, cultural and recreational use: During the land use survey, mosque, park, cremation ground, moktob, private university and Iztema maidan have also been found as the land uses along the Turag river bank. Mosque, cremation ground and moktob are public institutions. On the plea of community interests, significant parts or sometimes whole of these institutions have been developed occupying river bank or even river channel.
Agricultural use: Agricultural land use is apparently not as responsible for river encroachment as other land uses. During the dry season, when water level recedes, in many parts of the river, the bank and even river bed rise and come under agricultural use. Often agricultural land use entices people to grasp the raised river bank and bed as the best ground for paddy threshing. The grabbers gradually elevate the ground through earth filling. One day, this land use becomes permanent and the river loses its area.
Other uses: Road, another land use of this category, is an influential factor of river encroachment. If a road is constructed along river, the value of river side land jumps many fold. Then the river side land owners, local influentials and land developers cast a greedy eye on the river bank and try their level best to grasp it. In case of Turag the frequency of encroachment is higher along the south-eastern bank than its north-western bank because the embankment along the south-eastern bank of the river has been turned into a high way and connected with many important roads of the capital city.
Controlling also through land use
There are some land uses which can indirectly control encroachment if practiced along the banks of the river. Some such land uses are elucidated below: Walkway and pucca road, institutions of law enforcing agencies, play ground with concrete boundary wall, recreation center on private initiative, afforestation.
Walkway and pucca road can keep a tight rein on encroachment as these will work as distinctive boundary of the river and accordingly there will be no confusion over the area covered by the river. It will also facilitate all time movement of people along the riverbanks. That is, river will remain in people's keen observation. As a result, hardly anybody will dare to encroach upon.
Institutions of law enforcing agencies can help check river encroachment as it will cause presence of law enforcers on the nose of river that will at least make people hesitant to encroach upon the river. As a result, the frequency and intensity of illegal occupation of river by any one or by any institution will be reduced. Play ground with concrete boundary wall may be a good encroachment checking land use along the banks of the Turag.
In some parts of the river banks with which communication system of other parts of the city is satisfactory can be leased to private entrepreneurs for development of recreation centers like eco-park, shooting spot, picnic spot, botanical garden, commercial flower garden and recreation boating ghats under the keen obserbation and supervision of the government authorized organizations. These land uses will indirectly protect river from encroachment and help keep the river neat and clean.
Afforestaton is an important land use to check river encroachment problem as it is difficult for any one to occupy river bank cutting the trees without coming to notice.
Concluding remarks
Succinctly speaking, for the greater interest of the city's ecology and economy, the issue of letting river back to its normal life has emerged now as a burning question before the nation. Accomplishing this hard task, controlling further encroachment and eviction of the existing encroachment appear more than imperative. Riverbank land use is very important not only for controlling encroachment but also for all-round welfare and health of the river itself. However, the government and others concerned should seriously consider this landuse pattern on an urgent basis. The local people should be motivated in all possible ways to encroachment-controlling landuses along the river banks.
Muhammad Selim Hossain is a young researcher.
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