Editorial
New threat to Haikkar canal
Firm action must be taken against encroachment everywhere
THERE is bad news again from the environment front. Despite public concerns about canals, lakes and other water bodies being filled in with sand and stone by unscrupulous elements, despite administrative and even judicial measures to put a stop to such encroachment, there seems to have been little improvement in the situation. It is true that of late the authorities have moved toward reclaiming many canals and similar water bodies in and around the nation's capital. It is equally, and sadly, true that in some way or the other the nefarious elements responsible for turning these water bodies into something of a wasteland manage to sneak back to the scene and begin their dark work all over again.
One has only to observe the audacity with which a real estate firm is busy piling up sand only three feet away from the Haikkar canal at Rayerbazar. There are all the reasons for public outrage about such an act. The first is that the canal runs by the Martyred Intellectuals Monument around which, on ethical considerations, there should be no construction or any activity that will mar the solemnity of the memorial. Besides -- and this is the second reason -- there is a standing directive from the Public Works Department prohibiting any construction around the memorial. Another reason is the flimsy excuse or questionable arguments as well as documents these elements (in this case the real estate firm) come up with to defend their work. A representative of the firm has tried to convince people that the construction is being done through financial deals with local people and that it will not lead to any clogging up of an already comatose canal. That is not a good enough explanation.
And it is not good enough because of two very basic reasons. In the first place, any construction beside a canal, lake or river cannot but lead to a slow demise of the water body. That has been our experience over the years and that is why we are all today desperate about recovering what we have lost so far. In the second, it is unethical and absolutely a moral outrage to have any edifice built around a national monument. There is something called heritage. Will the authorities now intervene to remove these threats to Haikkar canal and similar threats to other canals and rivers elsewhere?
One is quite perturbed at such regular incidents of developers and sundry other bodies defying the government and going ahead with their own plans in places where they should not be. Are they more powerful than the government of the country? Can they with impunity defy the authorities and humiliate citizens day after day by their brazen activities? Let there be a stop to all that. Firmness pays. Since appeals to good sense do not seem to be working, it is time for tough action. Let it begin through putting an end to that construction by the Haikkar canal and beside the Martyred Intellectuals Monument.
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