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The Dhaka North City Corporation recently conducted drives against illegal constructions along the Ramchandrapur canal in Mohammadpur, while sparing singer Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya’s music school allegedly built on the canal land.

Regarding the eviction, the DNCC stated that it lacked full measurements of the canal to confirm if the school was built on it.

Renowned Rabindra Sangeet artiste claimed that the government leased the land to her school named Shurer Dhara.   

DNCC Zone-5 executive  officer and executive magistrate Mutakabbir Ahmed, who led the three-day eviction drives starting on June 27, said, ‘The DNCC does not have full measurements of the canal to confirm if the school has been built on it.’ 

Besides, ‘There was an order to evict Sadeeq Agro dairy farms and illegal structures around the canal and road in Mohammadpur Beribandh area. The name of Shurer Dhara was not mentioned in the order,’ he said. 

On June 27, when asked whether the school was built on the canal, the corporation’s chief estate officer Mohammad Mahay Alam told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·, ‘The school was not built on the canal as the canal takes a turn to the west direction just behind the school.’

However, several local residents on Monday alleged that the school was built on the land that was once part of the canal, which had gradually been filled in by influential individuals over the years.

An elderly person, who claimed to have lived beside the canal at Shatmasjid Housing for more than 20 years, said that she used to catch fish from the canal and boats used to move in it.

‘The school was built on what used to be the middle portion of the canal,’ said the elderly person.

During a visit to the Shatmasjid Housing area on Monday, a demarcation pillar was observed on the west side of the school, a one-storey white building with a roof of corrugated sheets. Multiple signboards by the Dhaka district administration and DNCC were also noticed forbidding trespassers on the land that had been reclaimed through the drives from grabbers, including the renter of Sadeeq Agro Farm and a rickshaw garage.

The Dhaka district administration notice read that the 1.09-acre land was agricultural land (nal jami). The DNCC signboards read that the area was allocated for a playground and park. 

However, a list of illegal grabbers of Ramchandrapur Canal, prepared by the National River Conservation Commission, identified 1.43-acre land in the same area as canal land.

Dhaka district additional deputy commissioner (revenue) Md Shibli Sadique said that 51.20 decimals of land was leased to Shurer Dhara school. He also said that this land was categorised as agriculture and fallow land.

Out of this 51.20 decimal, 34.20 decimal of land is part of the land identified by the river conservation commission as canal land, according to land administration office sources.

The sources also said that the lease was approved for Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya as the chairperson and principal of Shurer Dhara on July 17, 2022.    

When contacted on July 7, singer Rezwana said, ‘I am not a politician or businessperson who would grabs land. I am an artiste with ethics, and the government leased the land to me.’

Md Billal, who identified as the caretaker of the school, said that a 12-storey building is planned to be constructed on the land.

Over the three-day eviction drives that ended on June 29, the city corporation authorities in separate press releases claimed to have demolished 70 illegal structures, including slums, an office of ruling Awami League, grocery stores, and the controversial Sadeeq Agro’s cattle farms, and recovered 20 bigha of land.