Addressing a rally at Shahbagh, BAPA leaders urged the government to declare Ashulia as 'flood flow zone' and 'sub-flood flow zone' so that no permission is given for earth filling of the area in future.

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra said the land grabbers must be stopped to avoid future disaster.

"If flood water cannot flow through Ashulia during the rainy season, the whole of Dhaka city would be submerged breaking the Dhaka Protection Embankment", he added.

Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, country director of the Hunger Project Bangladesh, said as underground water level of Dhaka city is falling every year, it is a must to stop filling up of low-lying areas around the capital.

Presided over by Abu Naser Khan, secretary general of BAPA, the rally was also addressed by Pof Naser Azizul Haque of Jahangirnagar University, Prof Mahbuba Nasreen of Dhaka University and Prof Sarwar Jahan of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).