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30 acres railway land in Dhaka, Chattogram cities

No recover initiative in decades


Bangladeshpost
Published : 02 Mar 2020 09:02 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 09:55 AM

Amdadul Haque

Around 30 acres of railway land worth Tk 25,000 crore in capital Dhaka and Chattogram remained in the hands of illegal occupants for decades as there is no visible initiative to recover them. According to sources, grabbers occupied four acres of railway land at Fulbaria in Dhaka and 26 acres at Motijharna in Chattogram city nearly five decades ago but almost no steps have been taken so far to recover the land.

By this time, around 6,500 buildings have been constructed on this grabbed land. Local influential people have constructed these buildings. All the railway ministers in the past had made promises for recovering the grabbed lands of Fulbaria and Motijhorna but failed. According to sources, there is no directive from the authority concerned regarding removal of illegal structures built on the railway land. Till date, about 100 letters have been sent to the Railway Department and the Railway Ministry from the railway's land office seeking directives regarding demolition of the illegal infrastructures at Motijharna and Fulbaria railway land. But no directives were given in this regard. Non-cooperation of senior officials, obstruction of local influentials, and cases filed by the grabbers are the main reasons behind not recovering the gabbed railways, sources added.

Railway Secretary Mofazzel Hossain said, "Not only in these two places, grabbed railways land could not be recovered in many places across the country. However, we’re planning to recover the illegally occupied land at any cost. It’s a challenging task. Besides, local people and political issues are also involved here.”

“Directives have been received from the High Court to recover the grabbed land from Motijharana in Chattogram. Now we are working on the rescue of recovering the grabbed railway land at Fulbaria in the capital. Already, the judgment has come in favour of the railway in four cases. There are 7 more cases. The cases were filed in the same court on the same day. Hopefully, the court will deliver its order fast,” he added.

When asked, the Director General of Bangladesh Railway M Shamsuzzaman said, “Railways land has been occupied in Fulbaria in such a way that there is almost no trace of the railway station once was there. We want to build a legal building there. This place is worth a lot.” Chattogram Railway Law Officer Salah Uddin sent a letter to the Chief Land Officer on February 20 last. It said, "The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has issued a clear order and judgment regarding the eviction of 26 acres of railway area in Chattogram’s Motijharna, in the judgment of Civil Appeal No- 83/2003."

A railway official, who did not want to be named, said a 'club-community center' has been set up completely illegally in Chattagram’s Lalkhan Bazar mouza, but it is not being removed due to some invisible forces behind. The railway officials have sent letters to senior officials concerned for eviction of the structure. But no directions for eviction were granted.