70 pc of rly west zone land illegally occupied: Quader
The much-awaited bridge over Teesta River is likely to be opened by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on September 20. Photo: STAR
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said at least 70 percent of the total 950 acres of railway land in west zone is still under illegal occupation. The minister said this while visiting Lalmonirhat Railway Station yesterday. Some unscrupulous railway men are also involved in grabbing of the land and steeling railway sleepers, said Quader, also in charge of the railway ministry. He asked the officials concerned to recover the land within a month and take action against the railway men involved in stealing sleepers. “We could build at least three to four bridges over the Padma with the value of the grabbed railway land,” the minister said, adding that action will be taken against the railway officials if they fail to recover the grabbed land within the deadline. He asked the railway high officials to take necessary steps to reopen Lalmonirhat-Mogholhat rail route. The minister transferred four railway officials from Lalmonirhat for their alleged negligence of duties and issued show cause notices to them. The officials are Railway Divisional Engineer Asadul Haque, Divisional Estate Officer Abu Sayeed, Divisional Electrical Engineer Kholilur Rahman and Ticket Booking Master Abdul Motin. Earlier on the day, the minister visited Teesta road bridge site in Sadar upazila. Taking to the journalists, he said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will open the much-awaited road bridge over the Teesta River on September 20. Roads and Highways Department implemented the project spending Tk 122 crore. Of the amount, the government provided 85 percent while the rest came from the government of Kuwait. With its opening, the bridge will establish road links with Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts and bring dynamism in the economic activities of the northern region.
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