A local contractor took a lease of 3.306-acre (10 Bighas) of land of Rajshahi University (RU) for 4 years. University Agricultural Project leased him the land on a condition of not taking the soil of the land outside the campus. However, the contractor did not follow that condition and took the soil outside the campus.
Contractor Masud is a resident of Budhpara area near the campus. He took the land lease for farming fish.
An emergency meeting was held on recently between the university authority and the Agricultural Project personnel. They decided in the meeting to send a letter to the contractor for stopping digging soil from the land.
On Tuesday it was seen that a pond excavation work was going on near Shaheed Shamsuzzoha hall of the campus and the dug soil was being taken outside the campus by few tractors through a gate adjacent to the Baddhyabhumi of the university.
According to a tractor driver, the dug soil was being taken by tractor to a brick kiln near Chouddopai area since Tuesday morning.
Acting officer of the Agriculture Project Prodip Kumer Roy said, “We heard that the dug soil was being taken outside of the campus and we forbade them but they did not listen to us. Later, we complained to the university authority and arranged a meeting with the administration. The decision of stopping digging the pond came from the meeting.”
Contractor Masud Rana said, “We were bringing the soil after letting the authority know for filling a land of ours. The university authority asked me about the letter over a phone call but I could not receive it as I was not in Rajshahi”.