Oasis Lost to Urban Sprawl by Helemul Alam takes readers on a revealing journey through Dhaka’s forgotten ponds. Based on a 2017 investigative series in The Daily Star, the book explores what happened to over 65 ponds identified by Dhaka City Corporation in a 2003–2011 survey.
The author visited each site, uncovering a stark reality—many ponds have disappeared, some are on the verge of destruction, and only a few survive in good condition. This book not only documents the physical loss of waterbodies but also reflects on the broader consequences of unchecked urban sprawl and policy failure.
An essential read for urban environmentalists, researchers, students, and anyone invested in saving Dhaka’s ecological heritage.
 
Once Dhaka was adorned with several hundreds of ponds. Like canals, only a handful exist now. But they are also in death throes due to negligence of the authorities concerned. The undivided Dhaka City Corporation in its map marked around 65 ponds in its 28 wards out of 90 wards based on a survey carried out between 2003 and 2011. The writer had written a series reports in The Daily Star based on the map in 2017 visiting all the sites identified as a pond. He tried to find out the present condition of the ponds and locations of disappeared ones. He found many of those ponds disappeared or in position to be filled up or death. Surprisingly, he also found many others which were still alive and well maintained. His book OASIS LOST TO URBAN SPRAWL, an in-depth look into Dhaka’s lost ponds is published based on that series report. Reading this book, a person will be able to get a glimpse of the ponds of Dhaka.