Haji Salim, an MP from Dhaka-7 constituency, has demolished an installation on the banks of the Buriganga, which he built occupying the river site in the Soarighat area of Old Dhaka.

Earlier, He had hung a signboard of the Medina water tank on that installation and occupied the place of the river for so long.

This time, he demolished his own installation, reports Prothom Alo.

As per the pre-announced decision, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) was scheduled to conduct an eviction drive in the area today.

BIWTA recovers 4.5 acres of Buriganga land from MP Haji Salim’s possession

The operation did not start till the writing of this report at 11 am but preparations for that operation were going on.

During a visit in the site area on Sunday, it was seen that the installation of Haji Salim on the west side of BIWTA's Soarighat landing station was demolished.

Security guard Masud Rana, who was sitting in front of the installation, told Prothom Alo that they had demolished the installation few days ago. "The MP is having a bad time now, so he doesn't want to bother. When the situation gets to normal, a permanent installation will be made here again," said the security guard.

The temporary installation was surrounded by advertisements for Medina water pumps, but was used as a warehouse, security officials said.

Apart from this temporary installation of Haji Salim, many occupiers in the surrounding areas including Islambagh have been seen demolishing the structures built on the river site on their own initiative.

BIWTA is conducting the operation after a pause to prevent recapture of rivers around Dhaka.

 As part of this, the eviction drive was started from Babubazar area on 22 and 23 November.

According to the BIWTA announcement, all illegal structures along the Buriganga river from Imamganj to Loharpul under Chawkbazar and Lalbagh police stations in Old Dhaka will be evicted on Sunday and Monday.