6,727 acres of railway land grabbed illegally
![railway expansion project railway expansion project](https://tds-images.thedailystar.net/sites/default/files/styles/big_202/public/images/2023/02/11/rail-line.jpg)
A total of 6,727 acres of railway land are under illegal occupation by different organisations and individuals, as per a report by Bangladesh Railway.
The report was presented at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on railway ministry, held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban today.
Awami League MP ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury was in the chair.
The parliamentary watchdog recommended that work to recover the grabbed lands throughout the country start as soon as possible.
The parliamentary body formed a five-member sub-committee to take necessary measures to recover railway lands in Narayanganj.
AL MP from Narayanganj-4 Shamim Osman was made convener of the sub-committee.
According to the sources, the parliamentary committee asked for information regarding the total amount of land that the railway owns, the amount of land that is in illegal possession, and the amount of land that they are using for their own purposes.
Railways placed the report in this respect, stating that the overall land area they own is little more than 61,821 acres, and of that, 30,286 acres are being used for railway work.
So far, 8,468 acres of land have been recovered from illegal occupants, said the report, adding that 14,719 acres have been allocated for different purposes.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary body also recommended imposing financial penalties and punitive actions against shohoz.com, the railway e-ticketing service provider, for not fulfilling the conditions.
The JS body recommended cancelling the contract with Shohoz if it failed to fulfil certain conditions of the contract within the next two months.
Comments