1.0 Origin of the Task

This report is the outcome of a research work to fulfill the Course requirement. As stated by the honorable course instructor Niaz Ahmed Khan, I am assigned to prepare a Social Impact Assessment Report on “Hatirjheel-Begunbari Canal Project” under the Project Management course.

2.0 Background

Economic development projects brought innumerable benefits but also had unintended detrimental effects on people and natural resources. Human activities have resulted in the disruption of social and communal harmony. Social impacts are the impacts of developmental interventions on human environment. Such impacts not only need to be identified and measured but also need to be managed in such a way that the positive externalities are maximized and the negative externalities are minimized. Social impact assessments help in understanding such impacts.

Hatirjheel Lake, the case study of this paper, Hatirjheel Lake is the reservoir of one third of the catchment area of the city (MacDonald and Culpin, 1995). It is located in the center of Dhaka and is a crucial element in the city’s drainage system. It used to be connected to a string of other lakes, the Banani, Dhanmondi and Gulshan Lakes, and to the BegunbariKhal at the Rampura Bridge. Today, the natural system has been interrupted, causing ever-larger problems of flooding and water logging. The pressures on the water system are manifold and create a number of challenges for the immediate future.

However, there is a large on-going project of urban renewal by the government. A new, 60-foot wide ring road encircling the water body is being constructed. The main objective is to develop the low-lying areas as a storm water retention basin, in order to minimize the risks of floods into the nearby areas and to protect them from further encroachment. The road is to become a very important east-west traffic connection through the city, effectively connecting the rapidly transforming commercial and business center at Kawran Bazar to the new eastward expansion of the city. This will drastically increase the importance of the area and attract substantial new development.

3.0 Baseline Condition

Hatirjheel Lake was situated near the Tejgaon industrial area and the residential neighborhood of Nayatola. The British planned Tejgaon as an industrial area outside the city, but as the city has expanded, it now lies in the center of an urbanized area.

The physical environment of the lake itself is quite poor since squatters have illegally appropriated it and there are no municipal services. Over the past decade, Hatirjheel Lake has been a typical example of encroachment due to Dhaka’s population growth. A large part of Hatirjheel’s Lake edge is covered with bamboo houses on stilts, and a larger percentage of it with more permanent illegal structures. The houses are with their foundations in the water during the rainy season. Most of them stand only 2 to 6 meters above sea level. It is obvious that the poor have to live in the low-lying area because the land is cheaper and more available because of its risk-prone character.

In Hatirjheel, The lake is polluted with solid waste and overgrown with hyacinths. Domestic waste, as well as polluted industrial water from the factories next to Hatirjheel, and both the storm and wastewater from neighborhoods further away empty into the lake since it is topographically a low area in the surroundings.

In case of heavy rain, the surroundings of Hatirjheel are inundated and the existing concrete columns are often not high enough to prevent the houses from flooding.

Conversely, in dry season, it is hard to find any water at all, inhabitants walk over pipelines which jut out over the water. There used to be an informal ferry service to bring people to and from their work on the both sides of the lake. As well, in the past, some parts of Hatirjheel Lake were used to cultivate rice when the water level was low. In fact, the residents intensively used the water and even lived on top of it, despite of its awful stench.

The research led to a design proposal for the south-eastern side of Hatirjheel. The construction of two 7.5 meters-wide roads, one for through- traffic, the other for local traffic, had begun construction. In this area, three low- to middle-class residential areas—Mogh Bazaar, Nayatola and Madhubag—have informally grown into a very densely packed neighborhood, accessed by a labyrinth-like series of narrow roads with only a few small open spaces. An estimated 130,000 people per km2 are projected to inhabit the area by the end of 2011 (based on RAJUK 2008). The area is enclosed in the east by the DIT Road and in the south by the railway and the only possible area of expansion is towards the northwest and into the low-lying retention area.

4.0 Public Involvement
Consolidation strategy has been proposed in DMDP for the entire Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) area comprised of 90 wards. On the table below we are focusing on only those wards which are related to Hatirjheel Begunbari Canal Project-

Table: Selected Wards with area population density

|Ward No |Area |Population Density (Person/acre) |
|19 |Gulshan |52 |
|22 |East Rampura |163 |
|37 |Tejgaon |161 |
|49 |Dhanmondi |64 |
|54 |Dilu Road, New Eskaton |302 |
|55 |Moghbazar Chairman Goli |307 |

Source: BBS, 2001; “Bangladesh Population Census report, 2001- Community Series”

6 areas or wards are associated with this project by both positive and negative way, among these marked 4are more directly involved to the project.

The new 60-foot roads along the perimeter of the Hatirjheel Lake, as planned by the government for better accessibility to the east and with better connection to the lands eventually opened up the Eastern Embankment, has led to the clearing of slums along the edges of the lake. Since the start of the construction works in the summer of 2009, all slums within the perimeter of the new roads have been removed. Following are the people of different categories who have been affected negatively because of this project- ➢ Slum inhabitants who were living there for many years

➢ Local shop owners who had shops at the edge of the canal

➢ Land owners who had lands privately in the canal area

➢ Unplanned lease by govt. - Bodies. Bangladesh Railway has leased out pieces of land in Begunbari area to different public and private organisations, which have built multi-storey buildings ignoring laws that prohibit filling up of wetlands

➢ Illegal structures and inhabitants- In Hatirjheel too influential and local people have built more than 1,200 illegal structures over the years.According to a recent survey of the RajdhaniUnnayanKartripakkha (Rajuk), there are 1261 illegal structures only in Hatirjheel area

➢ Demolish of BGMEA building- The building of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) situated on Begunbari wetland illegal as the BGMEA built the building without Rajuk's approval. The land acquisition drive targeted the BGMEA building built in the project area.

➢ The edge between water and land was very ambiguous and construction did not clearly stop at the lake’s edge.

➢ Illegally built stilt houses with small bamboo walkways, as well as illegal concrete buildings, encroached the lake and excluded recreational uses as a possibility.

On the opposite side, the entire Hatirjheel area and its adjacent neighborhoods are witnessing major transformations towards the development. The positive effects of this project on the inhabitants are mentioned below- ➢ In contrast to the previously blurred border between the water’s edge and the inhabitants’ living quarters and their daily use of the water, the new road system forms a very hard edge and creates clear borders

➢ The new road is designed with three explicit components: a pedestrian zone, closest to the water; an express road, two lanes wide

➢ This encircles the lake as a one-way traffic system; and a local road, which connects to the existing road network and the urban tissue.

➢ Besides, there are plans for the existing road network to be improved by widening the most important access roads and completing missing links.

As the most important east-west traffic connection the new ring road will surely undergo a process of Bangladeshi gentrification.

5.0 Project Specification
The mega-project in Hatirjheel of Karwan Bazar and Begunbari canal areas in the city will be acquired for a lake.
Table: Project Specification

|Specification |Detail |
|Land Size |Total of 245 acres |
|Ownership |Government ownership 134 acres |
| |Private Ownership-111 acres |
|Land Cost |Aid- Only Tk 150 crore of the total cost came from Japan |
| |Government- bearing the rest of the cost |
|Responsible Bodies |RAJUK |
| |LGED |
| |Dhaka WASA |
| |BUET |
| |Army’s Special Works Organization |
|Budget Distribution |RAJUK- Tk 1.113 crore |
| |LGED -Tk 276 crore |
| |Dhaka WASA-86.67 crore |
| |BUET- Tk 1.9 crore |
| |Army’s Special Works Organization- TK 3.37 crore |
|Compensation Cost |111 acres Private Land- Tk 488.13 crore |
| |Rest of the Land- different government organizations, owner of that land, through book transfer |
| |system |
|Major Components |the project are an 11km road |
| |320-metre bridge |
| |11km sidewalk |
| |250-metre overpass |
| |14km walkway |
|Project Scope Expansion |A lake -- to stretch from behind Sonargaon Hotel for four kilometers up till Rampura bridge. |
| |An amphitheatre will be constructed on the banks of the lake at the back of Tejgaon Industrial Area |
| |There will be a water deck at Magh Bazar |
| |In the middle of the lake near Badda and West Rampura will be a forested island called Eco-Centre. |
| |People can travel by boat around the island but will not be permitted on it |
| |There will be water taxies to transport people down the lake. It will take people up till the lake |
| |at Gulshan-1. Later this service will be extended up till the lake in Gulshan 2 and Banani. There |
| |will be two water taxi terminals, one at Badda and one at Magh Bazar. |
|Project Completion Dates |1st Time- June 2010 |
| |2nd Time- June 2011 |
| |3rd Time- December 2012 |
|Extra Cost for Date Extension |500 Crores. Project cost has been increased to Tk 1960 crore from Tk 1473 crore |
|Project Scope Extension |The project extended from Sonargaon Hotel VIP road end to Rampura Bridge end |

Expected Outcome from The Project

❖ The project is likely to provide, nine km roadway and about 10 km waterway-

✓ The road type will be one way loop type link road

✓ There will be two-lane main road for through traffic movement and two-lane frontage or service road for local traffic movement

✓ There will be wide walkways on both sides of the main road.

❖ The project would ensure protection of required area for storm water retention thereby minimizing the risk of inundation of the adjoining areas including Tejgaon, Banani, Gulshan, Ulon, Khilgaon, Moghbazar, Eskaton and Karwanbazar as well as reducing related environmental hazards

❖ It will help to restore the degraded and unhealthy environment of the Hatirjheel area by transforming this 'wastewater canal' into a 'freshwater lake' through installing large diameter wastewater 'Diversion Sewers' along the periphery

❖ The project would connect an important east-west missing link between two major arterial roads namely the Tongi Diversion Road and the PragatiSarani by constructing a peripheral road system

❖ Intra-urban long distance traffic of Rampura-Khilgaon, Gulshan-Badda, Moghbazar-Eskatonand Tejgaon-Panthapath areas will be evenly distributed thereby easing the chronic congestion particularly of Mouchak, Maghbazar and Tejgaon intersections

❖ The proposed road system will significantly reduce detour problems of motorists travelling from eastern side namely Malibagh, Rampura and Badda to the western side Farmgate, Kalabagan and Dhanmondi areas

❖ The lake will be a place of opportunities for public recreation

❖ The wastewater would eventually be conveyed to a treatment plant, scheduled to be built at some downstream location near 'Norai' canal. It is likely to bring out major water quality improvements, not only of the lowlands of the Hatirjheel area but also that of Norai canal, Balu and Shitalakhya rivers

6.0 Screening

Due to the ambiguous border between land and water in the past years, it is hard to establish criteria whether a certain piece of land should be protected from the water or be protected from encroachment. Should the express road work as the definitive edge between water and land, or should pockets of water between the engineering work and the lake’s edge be maintained?

Different maps and satellite images show different traces of the water line. However, based on the analysis of the water system and the history of Dhaka, it is obvious that the lost pockets of water are important for drainage and important for the image of the city. “Saving” such pockets by integrating them into dense neighbourhoods would not only be beneficial for the resilience of the area, but also be important for the relationship between the people and the water, which is so essential in the lives of the local inhabitants. In defining the structuring principles of the design intervention, the larger connections of the area in relation to Dhaka were a primary consideration.

The east-west connectivity through the area is critical for the city and, in spite of the fact that a large percentage of the overall surface area of water from Hatirjheel will disappear and the inhabitants will be further detached from the water, the expressway is a crucial infrastructural element in the structuring and mobility plan of the city. The local road that connects to the existing network, on the other hand, doesn’t seem necessary, if only the most important connections from the main roads (DIT-road, Shaheed Tajuddin Road and their new connection along the railway) towards the water are widened. Moreover, it seems even unwanted, as it is this road that would trigger too much new development, choking the fragile urban tissue behind it.

8.0 Scoping

In the design research, the space between the expressway and the existing border of the area has been designed as a public open space. All the dead ends of the access roads have been seized as an opportunity to provide urban activators that reclaim the waterfront for the neighbourhood.

At the same time, the new threshold has not been over-designed, since informality and spontaneity are so typical in Dhaka. The ambition is to integrate the water and demarcate a clear border for new development. This new edge is not a hard one like the roads; instead it choreographs the dynamic condition of the water, allowing it to rise and recede and to hide or reveal open spaces.

As well, the expressway is slightly re-engineered, in that it is lifted from the land in order that it no longer forms a border to the urban area, but conversely divides the water into a metropolitan side and a local side.

9.0 Impacts

The main objective of the project was to drain out stagnant water from the city quickly during rainy season. Under the project, a ring road was considered surrounding the canal. Later on, Hatirjheel-Begunbari project had been planned for mufti-dimensional perspectives for ensuring various public facilities and recreation.
When the Hatirjheel-Begunbari Integrated Development Project will be completed, the positive impacts would be- ✓ Dhaka- dwellers would enjoy the charm of floating on sail-hoisted boats ✓ The traffic jams in Tejgaon, Badda, Gulshan, Rampura, Mouchak and Maghbazar areas in the capital will significantly decrease ✓ The project will have 300 acres-lake/canal with fresh water, improved sewerage system ✓ There will be crystal- clear lakes beside the two banks connected through bridges. In a short time one would be able to go from Karwanbazar to Gulshan or Badda ✓ The people can watch performances at the amphitheatre sitting in the open air by the waters of the lake ✓ Water deck at Moghbazar will be an open platform for entertainment upon the lake. ✓ Eco-Centre, the forested island in the middle of the lake near Badda and West Rampura will be a haven for all sorts of flora and fauna
Hatirjheel Canal project has also some probable negative impacts along with its big positive impacts. ❖ In a reading of the trace of the new roads, one can distinguish pockets of water that are disconnected from the water network. The present-day situation foreshadows what will happen when land becomes freed- ✓ The free market will reign, ✓ Commercial development will prevail, ✓ Building to a maximum height, and commercial development will seize its opportunity. ✓ The site will become further and further disconnected from the water.
The distinctive organic morphology of the area will no doubt disappear quickly as new development proceeds.

❖ The bridge-width (double lane) may be inadequate (like Dhanmandi lake bridge) in the long run for fast traffic once the canal ring roads are connected with the three major trunk roads/expressway at Panthapath, FDC, Gulshan south and Rampura. Width of 'link roads' connecting the areas from one side over the lake to the other should be 4-lane for vehicular traffic. The south and east bank of canal pass through densely populated areas of low and middle income group (MerulBadda, Rampura, Noyatola, Madhubagh and Moghbazar). Without separate service road isolating these areas from the canal promenade ring roads, the situation will be too constricted and present a chaotic scene

❖ Water level in Hatirjkeel/ Begunbari canal, without surface drainage discharge sewer in it, will go down by 15'-20' from surface during dry season. Since the project includes public recreation- promenade, boating and water-taxi service, to maintain its water at working level during dry season underground water may have to be pumped in with a heavy recurring cost

10.0 Monitoring

The Hatirjheel Development Project was taken up all of a sudden. There had been discussions about an elevated road above Hatirjheel. Then suddenly the meeting took a turn and the Hatirjheel Development Project emerged. Initially the Ministry of Public Works was named as the lead ministry and RAJUK as the lead agency of the project, with WASA and LGED as the supporting agencies.
Implementation of Hatirjheel Multipurpose Project has been delayed due to lack of coordination among the different organizations concerned. As such, the deadline for implementing the project has been extended thrice. Besides the extension of time, project cost, in the meantime, has also increased by Tk 500 crore. Project cost has been increased to Tk 1960 crore, from Tk 1473 crore. Now project is in severe financial crisis.

A spot visit reveals that most of the project works were still incomplete. The current status of the project completion is as follows- ✓ Works like survey, border demarcation, design and project planning have been completed already ✓ Around 500 structures, including 39 RAJUK- approved buildings have been demolished. But the eviction of BGMEA building behind Hotel Sonargaon has not been settled yet for a pending case. The case is at higher court at present ✓ Volume of wastes dumped in Hatirjheel was 10.55 crore CFT, of which 5.23 crore CFT has been cleaned. ✓ Piling works for the construction of roads on two sides of the canal, four bridges, four viaducts (one kind of bridge) and two overpasses have been completed ✓ Construction of four kilometers of a projected 8.8- km walkway has been done ✓ Construction of three kilometers of a seven- kilometer local diversion sewerage line has been finished

Other works, including load test and pipeline covering, are still incomplete. Some 6.8- km drainage system has to be built. Construction of two ‘bus bays’ and two parking spaces are still to be taken up.

11.0 Suggestive Steps

Hatirjheel canal project is undoubtedly a blessing project for Dhaka city’s inhabitants. It has aimed to remove some very crucial problem of the city including flood, drainage system, traffic jam and beautification as well.
As the day passes through the project implementation, many negative aspects of the project design have become apparent to the authorities. These have already been mentioned in the earlier part of this paper. Adoption of some suggestive steps can transform these negative aspects into positive ones. These steps are like as follows- ✓ Hatirjheel is an example of RAJUK's lack of responsibility and commercial mindset. This has to be monitored and rectify strictly ✓ Several hundred people affected by the ongoing Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal development project. Little bit change in the project layout could keep some 40 acres of land out of the project area and could save the houses of several hundred affected people ✓ An individual service road that will separate the canal promenade ring road and south and east bank of the canal (MerulBadda, Rampura, Noyatola, Madhubagh and Moghbazar) ✓ Public activities along the water and community awareness are also important determinants of water use and perception

12.0 Conclusion

While the city is becoming more and more suffocating, while open spaces are shrinking rapidly, Hatirjheel comes as a breath of fresh air. It is the last hope of the city dwellers for some respite and recreation. If the Hatirjheel project can be implemented according to the plan and design, then not only will the appearance of this area change; the entire city will have a facelift. It will increase the beauty of the city.

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Social Impact Assessment Report on Hatirjheel-Begunbari Canal Project

March 31, 2012

United International University