Village protection levee freed from UP chairman’s illegal occupation

Kalihati upazila administration on Thursday in a drive demolished illegal structures on about 300 metres of embankment along the bank of the Jamuna river in the upazila.

The structures on the embankment were built by Hazrat Ali Talukder, chairman of Gohaliabari Union Parishad (UP), in Gorilabari village of the union.

Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Shahriar Rahman said the drive was carried out in the afternoon at the directive of the deputy commissioner (DC) of Tangail.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) in a written complaint filed with the Tangail DC had said that UP Chairman Hazrat Ali illegally constructed concrete structures encroaching on the embankment that the BBA had constructed to protect Gorilabari village, 1.5 kilometres south of the eastern side of the Bangabandhu Bridge on the Jamuna.

In response to a signed petition of around 250 residents of Gorilabari village, the BBA started to build the levee last year, at a cost of Tk 33 core, to protect the village from the erosion of the river.

UP Chairman Hazrat Ali, also a local Awami League leader, along with his followers, had initially created obstructions during the construction of the levee, claiming ownership of the land.

But after the levee was complete despite his false claim, Hazrat Ali built concrete structures on the levee to establish his claim on the land, locals said.

During Thursday's drive, assisted by Kalihati police and the BBA, the illegal installations were removed from 300 metres of the encroached levee and several other illegal structures, built with corrugated iron sheets by local union parishad member Abdul Hye, were also removed from the vicinity, Shahriar added.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shamim Ara Nipa later visited the area and planted some saplings on the site.

Soon after the drive was over, the BBA resumed the embankment's construction work that had been halted in the area due to the illegal occupation of Hazrat Ali, according to BBA.