What happens after the river commission acts
In 2022 the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) took 204 actions against the grabbing of rivers, canals and water bodies. Its annual report has a column for the result. For most of the actions it reads: no information on progress was found.[NRCC]
204 actions, 140 with no word back
The table lists each action the Commission took in 2022, district by district: a directive to a district commissioner, the Water Development Board, the inland waterways authority or the Department of Environment, with the date and memo number. The last column is the progress the agencies reported.
For 140 of the 204 the column says বাস্তবায়ন অগ্রগতির তথ্য পাওয়া যায় নি, "implementation progress information was not found". For 23 more it says only that a reminder was sent. Just 41 carry any update, from a report received to a court case under way.[NRCC]
- 140 no information on progress was found (69%)
- 23 only a reminder was sent
- 41 an update is recorded
One square per action, in the report's order, 1 to 204. Source: NRCC Annual Report 2022, table 3.01.
Who is on the list, and how many were evicted
The same report counts the illegal occupiers of rivers, canals and water bodies that the district administrations identified, and how many they evicted in 2021 and 2022. Two districts, Madaripur and Meherpur, sent no data.[NRCC]
The report does not say why evictions fell.
By division
| Division | Listed | Share of the largest division | Evicted 2021 | Evicted 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhaka12 districts | 8,145 | 3,160 | 892 | |
| Khulna9 districts | 4,965 | 1,380 | 846 | |
| Mymensingh4 districts | 3,643 | 2,078 | 595 | |
| Chattogram11 districts | 3,260 | 456 | 138 | |
| Rajshahi8 districts | 3,115 | 972 | 461 | |
| Barishal6 districts | 2,455 | 762 | 548 | |
| Sylhet4 districts | 1,886 | 677 | 25 | |
| Rangpur8 districts | 1,330 | 126 | 3 |
Sums of the district rows below. Barishal's printed total for the first column is 2,446, but its six districts add up to 2,455; we use the districts as printed.
District by district
62 of 62 districts
| District | Division | Listed | Evicted 2021 | Evicted 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| নারায়ণগঞ্জ NarayanganjDhaka | Dhaka | 2,980 | 2,605 | 470 |
| ফরিদপুর FaridpurDhaka | Dhaka | 2,591 | 14 | 10 |
| কুমিল্লা CumillaChattogram | Chattogram | 2,322 | 305 | 0 |
| ময়মনসিংহ MymensinghMymensingh | Mymensingh | 2,074 | 1,382 | 97 |
| পাবনা PabnaRajshahi | Rajshahi | 1,644 | 627 | 402 |
| বরিশাল BarishalBarishal | Barishal | 1,287 | 293 | 126 |
| নাটোর NatoreRajshahi | Rajshahi | 1,252 | 267 | 12 |
| বাগেরহাট BagerhatKhulna | Khulna | 1,044 | 248 | 437 |
| টাঙ্গাইল TangailDhaka | Dhaka | 1,018 | 208 | 0 |
| চুয়াডাঙ্গা ChuadangaKhulna | Khulna | 997 | 510 | 0 |
| খুলনা KhulnaKhulna | Khulna | 957 | 61 | 0 |
| সুনামগঞ্জ SunamganjSylhet | Sylhet | 898 | 125 | 9 |
| সিলেট SylhetSylhet | Sylhet | 829 | 451 | 0 |
| নেত্রকোণা NetrakonaMymensingh | Mymensingh | 743 | 277 | 416 |
| সাতক্ষীরা SatkhiraKhulna | Khulna | 594 | 300 | 0 |
| পটুয়াখালী PatuakhaliBarishal | Barishal | 593 | 145 | 329 |
| নড়াইল NarailKhulna | Khulna | 576 | 0 | 380 |
| জামালপুর JamalpurMymensingh | Mymensingh | 534 | 254 | 23 |
| বরগুনা BargunaBarishal | Barishal | 457 | 264 | 93 |
| গাইবান্ধা GaibandhaRangpur | Rangpur | 457 | 76 | 0 |
| ঠাকুরগাঁও ThakurgaonRangpur | Rangpur | 453 | 7 | 0 |
| বান্দরবান BandarbanChattogram | Chattogram | 363 | 0 | 0 |
| ঢাকা DhakaDhaka | Dhaka | 344 | 0 | 340 |
| কুষ্টিয়া KushtiaKhulna | Khulna | 324 | 5 | 27 |
| রাজবাড়ী RajbariDhaka | Dhaka | 313 | 41 | 0 |
| শেরপুর SherpurMymensingh | Mymensingh | 292 | 165 | 59 |
| নীলফামারী NilphamariRangpur | Rangpur | 281 | 0 | 0 |
| মুন্সীগঞ্জ MunshiganjDhaka | Dhaka | 274 | 160 | 1 |
| ঝিনাইদহ JhenaidahKhulna | Khulna | 271 | 105 | 0 |
| মানিকগঞ্জ ManikganjDhaka | Dhaka | 206 | 8 | 41 |
| কক্সবাজার Cox's BazarChattogram | Chattogram | 155 | 0 | 0 |
| যশোর JashoreKhulna | Khulna | 153 | 151 | 2 |
| লক্ষ্মীপুর LakshmipurChattogram | Chattogram | 151 | 26 | 0 |
| ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া BrahmanbariaChattogram | Chattogram | 147 | 69 | 135 |
| নরসিংদী NarsingdiDhaka | Dhaka | 124 | 90 | 0 |
| ঝালকাঠি JhalokatiBarishal | Barishal | 117 | 59 | 0 |
| কিশোরগঞ্জ KishoreganjDhaka | Dhaka | 115 | 24 | 0 |
| মৌলভীবাজার MoulvibazarSylhet | Sylhet | 108 | 66 | 0 |
| পঞ্চগড় PanchagarhRangpur | Rangpur | 106 | 36 | 0 |
| জয়পুরহাট JoypurhatRajshahi | Rajshahi | 80 | 10 | 0 |
| গোপালগঞ্জ GopalganjDhaka | Dhaka | 69 | 2 | 3 |
| শরীয়তপুর ShariatpurDhaka | Dhaka | 67 | 0 | 0 |
| রাঙ্গামাটি RangamatiChattogram | Chattogram | 66 | 0 | 3 |
| চট্টগ্রাম ChattogramChattogram | Chattogram | 55 | 55 | 0 |
| হবিগঞ্জ HabiganjSylhet | Sylhet | 51 | 35 | 16 |
| মাগুরা MaguraKhulna | Khulna | 49 | 0 | 0 |
| গাজীপুর GazipurDhaka | Dhaka | 44 | 8 | 27 |
| বগুড়া BoguraRajshahi | Rajshahi | 38 | 31 | 0 |
| চাঁপাইনবাবগঞ্জ ChapainawabganjRajshahi | Rajshahi | 38 | 37 | 1 |
| রাজশাহী RajshahiRajshahi | Rajshahi | 29 | 0 | 29 |
| কুড়িগ্রাম KurigramRangpur | Rangpur | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| সিরাজগঞ্জ SirajganjRajshahi | Rajshahi | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| নওগাঁ NaogaonRajshahi | Rajshahi | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| রংপুর RangpurRangpur | Rangpur | 16 | 7 | 1 |
| চাঁদপুর ChandpurChattogram | Chattogram | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| পিরোজপুর PirojpurBarishal | Barishal | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| খাগড়াছড়ি KhagrachhariChattogram | Chattogram | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| নোয়াখালী NoakhaliChattogram | Chattogram | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ফেনী FeniChattogram | Chattogram | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ভোলা BholaBarishal | Barishal | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| লালমনিরহাট LalmonirhatRangpur | Rangpur | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| দিনাজপুর DinajpurRangpur | Rangpur | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Counts are people and organisations, as listed by the district administrations. A zero is a zero in the report; Madaripur and Meherpur are missing because they sent nothing. Source: NRCC Annual Report 2022, table 3.02.
In court
The Commission is also made a party to cases about rivers: 132 of them by its own count, 96 in the High Court Division, 4 in the Appellate Division and 32 in lower courts.[NRCC]
The report lists the 96 High Court cases, from the 2009 writ on the grabbing and pollution of the Buriganga and Turag to boundary disputes and sand and stone lifting, with the Commission's step in each. In many the step is a letter to the district commissioner and the Department of Environment after the court's order.
Read with the table above: the Commission writes, reminds and is named in cases, and for most of its actions the report has no word on what the agencies then did.
How we read it
The chapter is a scanned table with no text layer, so every count was made from the page images. We found the table's drawn lines on each of pages 1 to 40, cut the serial and progress columns along them, and gave each action the progress cell that covers it, because one cell is often merged over several actions. The last action is alone on page 41 and was read by eye. We then compared every page with the result. The action numbers run from 1 to 204 with no gap.
"No information" is the report's own wording, with small variations. 6 of the 140 also mention a reminder. "An update" is any other text: a report received, a letter, a court case, work under way. We did not judge whether an update means real progress.
The district table was transcribed by hand from pages 81 and 82 of the report and added up; every division matches the printed total except the one noted above. The report's source for it is the district administrations. No figure here is our estimate.