The allotted plot close to road No. 19A at Banani is the lone conduit for drainage running into the lake.

In the mid-1990s, the areas along the lake were filled and developed as housing plots and the old drains were closed to clear space for the plots, which now stagnate rainwater.

The local residents in a recent letter to Rajuk Chairman Iqbal Uddin Ahmed expressed concern over a probable environmental disaster, as the allotted plot they fear will clog the drains and urged him to take necessary steps to smooth drainage.

Despite earlier protests against the filling-up of the lake, the authorities did not pay attention and filled part of the water-body to develop housing plots instead, the letter pointed out.

"Rajuk pledged that this plot would not be allotted to anyone considering the importance of drainage. The road Nos. 19 and 17 at Banani are located on a slope and rainwater easily submerges the area because it takes four or five hours to recede into the lake," said Manzur Ahmed, a former lawmaker, who lives in the area.

"Rajuk also promised to plant trees on the plot," he said.

"If they don't build a proper drainage system, the building, likely to be constructed on the plot, will cause serious problems even in the dry season," Ahmed said.

The former lawmaker accused Rajuk of repeatedly revising the original master plan of the lake in favour of new housing plots endangering the lake.

The Rajuk chairman brushed aside the allegations and said, "We haven't done any wrong allotting the plot. Before allotment, we set a condition that there would be a pipeline beneath the building so that the water can flow into the lake easily."

On earlier promises of Rajuk, Iqbal said, "I don't know anything about tree plantation. This is baseless."