Tk 300cr for coalmine city at Barapukuria

The government has allocated Tk 300 crore as compensation to the victims of the Barapukuria Coalmine areas to establish the proposed coalmine city in Dinajpur.
Following the Memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the affected people of Barapukuria coal mine areas, Barapukuria mining authority and local government organisations, the energy ministry asked the finance ministry to allocate the amount to implement the package.
"The finance ministry has allocated this amount for rehabilitation and land acquisition purposes in the Barapukuria coal mining areas and some NGOs are also working there to implement the package", said Energy Secretary M Mohsin yesterday.
As a part of establishing the coalmine city, Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd (BCMCL) and representatives of villagers affected due to coal mining signed a memorandum of understanding on May 14-15.
Energy ministry sources said the government will acquire 490 acres of land of the mining areas.
"The government has fixed the compensation package as per the assessment by a private organisation", Mohsin said.
The surveyor firm assess the amount for compensation considering agricultural, commercial and residential land, number of trees, cattle, poultry birds, domestic space and housing structures, school, college, religious structure, graveyard, forestry, road, canal, pond, Eidgah, bridges, electric poles, shallow or deep tube-wells etc of the affected families of Barapukuria.
"According to the survey 2,447 people are living there in 1,494 semi pucca and pucca and kuctha households," an official of Barapukuria coalmine said.
Earlier, the government announced that the affected families of coalmine areas will get compensation like the people affected by the acquisition of land for Jamuna Bridge got it.