Khorshed Alam, Sherpur

The Roads and Highways Department has issued notices to demolish houses without rehabilitation to two landless families in Sherpur. As a result, 2 landless families are suffering from the fear of eviction.

The incident took place in Andharupara village of Nayabil union in Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur. It is learned that Rafiqul Islam, son of the late Akbar Ali of that village, and his sister Sajeda Begum have been living in houses for 4 decades after receiving 40 percent of land in 2032 daga in Andharupara mouza through ancestral sources.

Rafiqul Islam said that in 1966, he purchased the land from Kentu Ram Shing, the owner of the ROR record. In 1988, Rafiqul Islam and his sister Sajeda Begum acquired ownership through purchase from their father. Rafiqul Islam and his sister Sajeda Begum have been living in this house with their family. The rent and payment of the said land have been paid till now. This is the complaint of the two victim families. In 2015, the Highway and Roads Department constructed a highway road on the house. At that time, the government acquired five percent of the land. The two families also received 45 thousand taka as the then market value of the acquired land. Apart from the house built on the remaining land, the two families have nothing to call support. On behalf of the victim family, Rafiqul Islam and his sister Sajeda Khatun said that in 2021, the government took over the work of the axle load construction project on the said land. 6 acres of land was acquired from 24 families here for the construction of the axle load.

But even today, many of the land owners have not received the fair price of the land. It is known that they were deprived of the money for the acquisition due to complications in the documents of the owners of the acquired land. This is the complaint of the victims. Although many people did not receive the value of the land, the Roads and Townships Department has started construction of the Excel Road by taking possession of their agricultural land, but since Rafiqul Islam and his sister Sajeda Begum have houses on that land, it was not possible to release the land.

Although compensation money was given for their houses and trees, the land value was not given. They said that it was not possible to purchase the land and build houses with the money that was given to them. Although the administration assured them of rehabilitation through khas land settlement, the two families have not received government land to this day. Demanding fair value for the land, the affected family members including Rafiqul Islam and Sajeda Begum filed a miss case with the Acquisition LA branch of the Sherpur District Commissioner's Office. It is currently ongoing. But since the case was not settled and the families did not make arrangements for resettlement, the Roads and Townships Department served them a notice to demolish their houses and leave on March 12.

The notice states that Rafiqul Islam will demolish all the structures including their houses, trees and other things if they are not removed. Since receiving this notice, the two families have been suffering from the fear of eviction. In this situation, the two families are at a loss as to where to go and what to do. Rafiqul Islam said that although we were given money for acquiring 5 percent of the same land in 2015, we are not being given money for acquiring the same land at present. He said that we should be given money for acquiring the land. Or we should be rehabilitated with the land.

Md. Ruhul Amin Khan, Sub-Divisional Engineer of Sherpur RHD told The Country Today that the case filed by the land owners is ongoing in the LA branch of the Deputy Commissioner's office. It has not been settled yet. But the two families have been given notices to remove their structures out of necessity. Because the construction of the Excel route is being hampered due to the non-release of the land. The contractor for the construction of the Excel route is saying that he will leave the work. As a result, the two families have been given notice to move out of their houses. He said that the acquisition branch handed over all the land acquisition documents to us. It is not our business to know whether the land owners have received the acquisition money or not.