<i>2 km road recovered from encroachers after 70 yrs</i>
Villagers work to reconstruct the two-kilometre-long earthen road from Gobargari-Adarshapara to Boiragipara in Badarganj upazila under Rangpur district, following recovery of the public path from illegal occupiers after long 70 years. Photo: STAR
People of ten villages under Madhupur union in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur district are happy to get back a two-kilometre-long road, after 70 years of illegal occupation by local influential people. As the villagers had to cover additional three kilometres in absence of the road, they formed human chains and held demonstrations on several occasions, urging the authorities concerned to recover the road. At long last, Badarganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Khondker Estiak Ahmed, and Madhupur Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Aynal Haque came forward to recover the earthen road to ease villagers' communication. "On January 3, surveyors of Badarganj upazila demarcated the road and we recovered it with the help of upazila and police administrations. Encroachers had kept occupying the officially recorded road for 70 years," said UP Chairman Aynal Haque. Following the demarcation, the UNO and the UP chairman hoisted red flags on the road and arranged removal of the occupiers' houses and trees from there. UP Chairman Aynal Haque on Sunday engaged 300 workers under 'Kormasrijan project' for reconstruction of the two-kilometre-long and 12-foot-wide road while a large number of locals joined the work on voluntary basis. It may take at least a week to complete reconstruction of the earthen road, he said. “We are very happy as the road will ease our communication,†said Ahsan Ullah, an elderly man of Gobargari-Adarshapara village. The government authorities in 1940 recorded the road from Gobargari-Adarshapara to Boiragipara under Madhupur union, said sources including a few elderly people of the area. But shortly afterwards, some influential people occupied the road and built houses, planted trees, and excavated ponds to establish their claim on the land.
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