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Commodore Mohammad Mozammel Haque, was withdrawn from the post of chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Thursday and was sent back to the Bangladesh Navy.
The transfer of Cdr Haque, who was officiating as the chairman of the BIWTA since 2015, took place amidst a very determined drive to remove illegal structures from both banks of the river Buriganga.
Environmentalists suspect that his transfer might affect the drive.
Cdr Haque, however, when contacted, said his transfer had nothing to do with the ongoing drive.
More than 1,400 structures, including many owned by some ruling-party men, were dismantled by the BIWTA during last few days.
The drive against illegal structures along the Buriganga is designed to continue until February 20.
According to some environmentalists and BIWTA insiders the transfer of Cdr Haque before completion of the drive might give a wrong message.
Mr Haque received a transfer order from the public administration ministry on Thursday afternoon. The order asked him to go back to the Bangladesh Navy.
He was made chairman of the BIWTA on deputation back in February 2015.
"The BIWTA won't bow down to anybody and will demolish every illegal structure as we're getting necessary administrative support," Mr Haque told the media some days back.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon former general secretary Dr Abdul Matin said the transfer order in the middle of the drive gives a wrong signal.
"But we don't want to see it with prejudice and apprehension. The government high-ups are cordial about this drive," he told the FE.
Mr Matin expressed hope that the new chairman would carry out the drive smoothly.
However, a BIWTA high official, seeking anonymity, said the demolition drive and demarcation project would certainly face some difficulties.
Everybody has received a wrong signal from the latest action, he told the FE.
The BIWTA undertook a new project to flatten all illegal structures and set up some 12,000 demarcation pillars along the rivers.
A tender was supposed to be floated by this month and work might start within the next three months.
The government has already appointed a consultant to implement the Tk 8.50-billion project.
The BIWTA would build some 50-kilometre walkway, plant trees along the passageway and set up three eco-parks at Shinnirtek, Tongi and Ashulia.
The authorities would also build 19 jetties in Aminbazar, Gabtoli, Kanchpur, Tanbazar, Machuwabazar, Khanpur and some other areas.
On Tuesday, the BIWTA stopped the drive on the Buriganga's old channel as it is not shown either on Dhaka's latest land survey map or on Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan.
Later, the BIWTA team demolished structures in the river's new channel and Hazaribagh area on Wednesday and Thursday.
The old channel is shown as land owned by individuals in the city's survey done between 1999 and 2010.
But the 1924 cadastral survey (CS) and the 1973 revised survey (RS) clearly show the 6.5-km channel split into two flows separating Kamrangirchar and Jhauchar from Dhaka city, according to the BIWTA.
The High Court division in its verdict in 2009 directed the government to follow the CS and RS records while carrying out a demolition drive.
Mr Haque said on Tuesday last that all structures would be demolished as per HC directive.