Staff Correspondent

The Central Land Allocation Committee has approved multiple proposals for land allocation and acquisition for crucial development projects across the country, spanning infrastructure, highways, ports, universities, water, and waste management.

The approvals were granted during the committee's 156th meeting, held at the Ministry of Land conference room on Thursday.

Chaired by Land Minister Md. Mizanur Rahman Minu, the meeting was attended by State Minister for Land Barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, Senior Secretary ASM Saleh Ahmed, and other top government officials. During the session, Minister Minu instructed relevant authorities to ensure absolute transparency in the acquisition process to prevent public dissatisfaction. He heavily emphasized the need to preserve the natural ecosystem and firmly directed officials to safeguard agricultural lands from unnecessary damage during project execution.

The committee greenlit five direct proposals presented for prior approval. These include the allocation of 1.44 acres in Fatullah's Dhopatita mouza for the operational activities and pontoon construction of the Bangladesh Coast Guard Station Pagla in Narayanganj. In Chattogram, 0.181 acres were approved for a road expansion project by the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) in Madarbari, alongside 74.11 acres for a Chattogram WASA sewage treatment plant in the Kalurghat area. Furthermore, the committee authorized 13.33 acres for a solid waste management facility and bus-truck terminal, and an additional 5.68 acres for widening roads, drains, and footpaths under the Gazipur City Corporation.

In addition to the direct proposals, the committee gave final approval to 14 land acquisition proposals exceeding 50 bighas, based on the recommendations of district land allocation committees.

A major highlight among these is the acquisition of 103.73 acres across the Patdha and Raghunandanpur mouzas in Kishoreganj Sadar upazila for the establishment of Kishoreganj University.

Other significant district-level approvals encompass 52.70 acres for expanding the Benapole land port in Jashore under the World Bank-supported 'ACCESS-Bangladesh Phase-1' project, and nearly 28.68 acres across Debidwar and Muradnagar upazilas for upgrading the Cumilla (Mainamati) to Brahmanbaria (Dharkhar) national highway to four lanes. Land allocations were also confirmed for the Ajmiriganj-Jalsukha road project in Habiganj, a flood control, drainage, and irrigation project in Chattogram’s Patiya, and two separate road developments in Sirajganj.

To further accelerate national connectivity, the committee finalized land acquisitions for several mega infrastructure initiatives. These include the JICA-funded South Chattogram Regional Development (SCRD) project, the Padma Bridge Rail Link, the Sylhet-Charkhai-Sheola highway, the Dohazari-Ramu-Cox's Bazar-Gundum railway line, and the four-lane upgrade of the Dhaka-Kanchpur-Sylhet-Tamabil highway.