The government has taken up a massive scheme to beautify the 98-acre area of Dhanmondi Lake in the capital.
The Tk 24-crore Dhanmondi Lake Restoration Project got rolling this week, with the work order being issued before the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
Neither the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) nor any other authority, however, made a formal announcement before launching it.
The fund comes from the Local Government and Rural Development ministry through the DCC, sources said, while the Engineering Corps of Bangladesh Army is carrying out the work.
Vitti Sthapati Brindo, the project consultant, in 1997-1998 restored the water body at a cost of around Tk 18 crore.
“We want to complete the unfinished job of 1997 and add a walkway on the Road 27 side of the lake,” architect Iqbal Habib of Vitti said. The authorities will thus restore the drainage and repair the walkways and banks.
The plan envisages the installation of five modern solar water treatment plants to oxygenate the lake water, four water fountains, a deep tubewell, a running track and a non-mechanised children’s park. Landscaping would also be a priority, he added.
On Monday an excavator was seen digging the bank by the Road 32 bridge and building a dam across the lake. Iqbal Habib said once the dyke was completed the project consultant would pump out the water from the Road 27 side of the lake and then rebuild the banks which had eroded.
After the Dhanmondi Lake was restored in 1997, the government formed two committees to oversee its management. The advisory body, headed by the LGRD secretary, comprised members of civil society and residents. And on the management committee were representatives of such service providers as the DCC, Dhaka Wasa and Desa, with the DCC chief executive officer heading it.
But none of the committees functioned properly. Over the years, illegal shops have been set up by individuals closely involved with the management itself.
A second generation dweller of Dhanmondi said the entire lake area throughout the years has turned into a commercial spot. Hundreds of shops have grown overnight, for which the management has no explanation.
Fish farmers illegally had taken over the lake illegally and rented it out to anglers for huge fees, the resident said, requesting not to be named.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
