Give compensation by Mar 9 or face tough agitation
Barapukuria land subsidence victims warn
Cracks developed at the house of Aftab Uddin at Gigagari village under Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur district, right, a classroom of Kaderia Dimukhi Dakhil Madrasa at Barapukuria village under Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur collapsed due to the impact of land subsidence around Barapukuria coalmine. Photo: STAR
The villagers affected by the land subsidence in Barapukuria Coal Mine area have threatened to go for a tough movement from March 10 if their demands are not met by March 9. Sources said the leaders of Jiban O Sampad Rakkha Committee, a platform of people of 15 villages affected by the land subsidence, on Sunday night decided to go for a movement to press home their demands. "If we don't get our compensation within March 9, we will observe a mass hunger strike in front of the Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd (BCMCL) gate," said Ibrahim Khalil, convener of the committee. Earlier on February 20, Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hossain Monsur held two meetings with the leaders of affected villagers at BCMCL conference room. The meetings ended without any decision when Petrobangla chairman sought four more months to implement the memorandum of understanding [MoU] signed in May 15 last year, sources said. The affected villagers have been agitating since December last year through different programmes to press home their demands. On January 20, Petrobangla chairman held a meeting with the affected villagers and the time limit to implement the MoU was extended for 30 days. But nothing happens during the period as the BCMCL authorities failed to implement the MoU, said Md Belal Hossain, general secretary of the committee. Contacted, BCMCL Managing Director Md Quamruzzaman said that they have taken a Tk 324 crore mega plan to rehabilitate the villagers. The plan has already been submitted for the approval of the government, he added. Sources said land subsidence in BCMCL project area affected about 2,600 families on 646 acres of land. Land subsidence in BCMCL area was first detected in May 2006.
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