Kurigram  Correspondent:

Factories set up at the Kurigram BSCIC Industrial Estate with allocated plots have been largely inactive for years. Of the estate’s 42 industrial units, 38 are now shut; the remaining four operate sporadically, leaving the once-promising estate now effectively inert. Local residents are demanding its revival to create jobs.

Founded 46 years ago in Kurigram district, the estate was meant to generate employment through entrepreneurs in small and cottage industries. Authorities allotted 133 plots for 44 planned units, most earmarked for husking mills. Though the factories operated in its early years, owners gradually closed them.

Currently, 38 of the 42 units in the industrial estate are shut. Its empty roads and locked gates belie its original target of employing 15,000 to 20,000 people. Units stand derelict or padlocked, with none of the activity expected of a functioning industrial park.

In response, locals are calling for dormant plots to be reassigned to new entrepreneurs. “When this BSCIC estate was built, we hoped for factories and jobs,” said Jamal Mia, a local resident. “That never happened. The early industries closed one by one; now only a plastic factory, an auto rice mill, a silver workshop, and one husking mill are operating.”

Another resident, Asaduzzaman, said, “While BSCIC industrial estates in other districts struggle to meet demand, almost all the plots here lie idle. Only one of 26 or 27 husking mills is running; the jute processing mill has been locked for years. The rest are closed. We want authorities to cancel allocations for inactive plots and revive the estate with new investors.”

Shah Mohammad Jonayed, the estate’s deputy manager, said the process had begun. “We have started cancelling allocations for inactive plots to attract new entrepreneurs,” he said. “Six plots have already been deregistered where industrial entrepreneurs will set up new factories.”

The Kurigram BSCIC Industrial Estate was established in 1980 on 20 acres beside the Kurigram–Chilmari highway in Belghasia.