BIWTA reclaims 390 acres of river land in 3 years
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, also known as BIWTA, has reclaimed 389.62 acres of river land by evicting 12,245 illegal establishments over the past three years.
The recovered lands are in the nearby areas of river ports of Dhaka, Narayanganj, Barishal, Ashuganj-Bhairab Bazar, Nawapara, Ghorashal and Tongi.
BIWTA senior officials revealed these on Wednesday at a meeting, chaired by State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, at the Secretariat in the capital on Wednesday.
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On the progress of the project "Installation of pillars on the banks of Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakshya and Balu rivers, protection of banks, construction of ancillary infrastructure including walkways and jetties" , the officials told the meeting that 6,202 pillars have so far been installed, a 10-kilometre walkway made visible.
"The construction of another 42 km walkway is going on."
They added that the construction of eight heavy jetties at Amin Bazar, the east and west side of Pagla Bazar, Munshikhola, Shinnirtek and Gabtoli has been completed, while jetties at other places are under construction.
The BIWTA has already completed the construction of an eco-park at Tongi River Port while construction of another two at Gabtoli Boro Bazar and Hajiganj Ferry Ghat in Narayanganj is underway.
The eco-park at Tongi is expected to be inaugurated on 10 September. The speedboat service on the circular waterway there will also be launched at that time.
