Preserve Goidartek retention area
It is unacceptable that the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), a government agency tasked with advancing the country's agricultural interests, is itself violating key environmental and urban planning laws to build a tissue culture laboratory. Reportedly, it began constructing a four-storey structure in 2023 on 11 acres of the 117-acre Goidartek pond, which plays a vital role in preventing flooding in large parts of Dhaka and is clearly marked as a retention zone in Rajuk's Detailed Area Plan (DAP) 2010. Shockingly, BADC went ahead with the project despite objections from environmentalists and without obtaining clearances from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) or the Department of Environment (DoE). Building any structure on this land constitutes a violation of the Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2010 and the Building Construction Act, 1952. Yet the building's main structure is nearly complete, with several additional structures and boundary walls under construction. Such disregard for the law by a state institution sets a dangerous precedent.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
According to reports, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has repeatedly urged BADC to stop the construction, even offering alternative land for the laboratory at a different location. Despite this, the construction continued. Moreover, after the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) filed a petition to halt the project, the High Court declared the construction illegal in January last year and ordered BADC to restore the pond within three months. But instead of complying, the BADC secured a stay order from the Supreme Court and carried on with its activities.
Reportedly, Goidartek was first marked as a retention pond in the Structure Plan 1997 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP), which was later included in DAP 2010. It is also listed as a water-regulating pond in DNCC's zoning plan. However, the BADC chairman has claimed that the land in question, covering 68 acres, was acquired for the Department of Agriculture in 1958 and is classified as cultivable land. This conflicting claim must be resolved urgently.
Experts warn that filling or obstructing the pond will disrupt Dhaka's drainage system, as the Kallyanpur canal and its branches channel stormwater to it before the water flows into the Buriganga River. Any encroachment here will disrupt Dhaka's drainage, worsening waterlogging in Mirpur, Kallyanpur, Agargaon, Mohammadpur, and surrounding areas. We, therefore, urge the government to immediately stop BADC's construction, restore the water retention area to its previous state, and hold to account those responsible for its degradation. Dhaka has already lost most of its natural waterbodies, ponds, and canals due to unplanned urbanisation and encroachment. Those that remain must be protected at all costs if the city is to survive.
Comments