Viral video of ashrayan housing demolition, what facts reveal

A video of the demolition of a shelter house in Dumuria upazila of Khulna has gone viral on social media. The video is accompanied by a claim that ‘the shelter houses are being demolished due to the canal excavation program of the BNP government’, but those concerned say that the information is not correct.

According to information from the local administration, Water Development Board and locals, the incident is not about canal excavation; rather, it is related to the ongoing river excavation project to resolve waterlogging in the Bhabadah region.

Water Development Board sources said that 81.5 kilometers of six rivers are being re-excavated at a cost of about 140 crore taka to resolve waterlogging in the Jessore-Khulna region. Work on this project, which is being supervised by the army, began in October 2024.

The Baratia shelter project in Dumuria is located on the banks of the Bhadra River. As the soil excavated during the river excavation was kept on the river bank, in some places it rolled towards the shelter house. Although soil has accumulated around some houses, there is a risk of damage, but the administration has said that no houses have been demolished.

Residents of the Ashrayan project also said that some houses are at risk after the river excavation work began. However, this is not related to the current government's canal excavation program. The project is part of the river excavation program that started a long time ago.

Dumuria Assistant Commissioner (Land) Amit Kumar Biswas said that the Ashrayan project was built on the banks of the river. No houses were demolished during the excavation work. Since the soil extracted from the river is placed next to it, it looks like some houses have been demolished from a distance. Initiatives have been taken to remove the soil.

Palash Banerjee, coordinator of the Bhabadah River Excavation Project and executive engineer of the Jashore Water Development Board, said that about 57 percent of the work on the project has been completed. There has been some problem in the movement of people because the soil extracted from the river is placed next to the houses of the Ashrayan project. However, no houses were demolished. The claim of the video circulating on social media does not match reality.