A cry for an economic zone or industrial park or any other development

Staff Reporter:

Over 992 acres of land on the western bank of the Jamuna river near Crossbar-3 and 4, locally known as China Band in Sirajganj Sadar upazila have been lying abandoned for long even after spending Tk 638.15 crore due to lack of proper plans and coordination between the district administration and Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), locals said.

As a result, complication over the land is taking serious turn day by day as the dispute over some private properties is yet to be settled due to alleged negligence of the authorities concerned.

There is an apprehension to occur untoward incident in anytime, if the matter of land dispute remains unsettled, locals said.

According to the data of district administration and BWDB in Sirajganj, the then Awami League government under supervision of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) implemented a project named “Protection of Proposed Economic Zone and Development of Reclaimed Land from Jamuna River in Sirajganj district” by spending Tk 638.15 crore to fill up about 1156 acres of land there.

Kabir Bin Anwar, the then Senior Secretary of Water Resource Ministry and former Cabinet Secretary among others played main role as planner behind sanctioning such a big amount of money there. Bangladesh Army also implemented the project.

Of the project, Tk 294.81 crore was spent against filling up the soil on 4.68 square kilometers area under the project, while Tk 201.26 crore was spent for 3.20 km of riverbank protection works.

Besides, an earthen embankment was constructed by spending Tk 10 crore under the same project. Thus, a total of the government Tk 638.15 crore was spent against the project started in the fiscal year 2017-2018 and ended in 2023.

After implementation of the project, about 992 acres of land out of 1156 have been lying as desert due to lack of use in any suitable purposes.

Of the 992 acres of land covering nine Mouza respectively Puthiyabari, Raipur, Biara, Chhotpiary, Boropiary, Bonbaria, Morgram, Beltia and Ramgati, almost 643 acres are claimed as private properties causing a silent dispute between the local administrations and land owners.

It is to be mentioned that, on April 1, 2021, the District Administration in a letter to the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) sought Tk 1026,37,31,688 as potential value of the land for the establishment of an industrial park at the place.

On August 14, 2022, in another letter to the Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), an amount of Tk 1076,89,90,741,20 was sought as the potential value for 301.09 acres of land in five Mouzas-Puthiabari, Raipur, Biara, Chhotpiari and Barapiari for the same purpose, but to no effect. Even after sending the estimates more than one time, no response has yet been received from the BEZA authorities to establish the proposed industrial park that causes frustration to the elite people.

On December 9, 2024, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Nazrul Islam sent land information to the Secretary of Chief Adviser for establishment of an Industrial Park in the district by BEPZA (Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority).

Nabokumar, a local politician said, “Due to lying the large scale of the land in unused condition for long, there is a possibility of illegal occupation. Besides, the desert like land on the western bank of the Jamuna river has now turned into safe haven for criminals.”

He further said, “If an economic zone or industrial park or any other installation is established here, it will come to help for northern economy.”

Earlier on September 4, DC Nazrul Islam laid a foundation stone at a part of the land near Crossbar-3 for establishing Jamuna Eco Shishu Park that sparks tense among some people, who claimed themselves as land owners.

On the other hand on September 8, unidentified people damaged the foundation stone and the signboard at the proposed site, though it was restored later.

Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, Executive Engineer of WDB in Sirajganj said, “Now, we have nothing to do over the land. It is now under jurisdiction of district administration.”

While contacted over cell phone on Saturday for comment, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Nazrul Islam got anger and cut off the call after hearing about the subject-matter.

Sirajganj dwellers urged the authorities concerned to allocate fund for establishing an economic zone or industrial park at the place to keep activated the economic wheels for the northern region.