Several hundred farmers in the Rajshahi city on Monday staged a demonstration and submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, protesting at the land acquisition by the Rajshahi City Corporation for its housing project.
They said with this they would have to give up their land property for the seventh time for the government projects.
The farmers, women and men, from three areas, namely Chotobangram, Meherchundy and Mushroil under RCC wards number 24, 25 and 26, gathered at the Rajshahi court area to join the protest at around 11:00am.
Later they had gone to the Rajshahi DC office to submit the memorandum demanding steps to cancel the RCC project.
The farmers complained that the RCC was going to acquire 136 acres of cultivable land in the three areas for a commercial housing project.
They said the situation of the inhabitants, already seriously affected by the land acquisition for so many times, would further be aggravated by the RCC initiative.
The demonstrators informed that the government authorities have already acquired land in the same area for different purposes in the past — initially for establishing the Rajshahi University, then for the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, later for the Rajshahi City Bypass road and yet again for a housing project by the Rajshahi Development Authority.
The RDA only acquired land in these wards for three times, they said.
Land Protection Committee convener Aslam Uddin, joint conveners SM Omar Faruk, Abdul Malek, Awal Hossain and Moshlem Ali were present, among others, at the programme.
Rajshahi DC Subol Bose Moni said he would send the memorandum to the authorities concerned.
The RCC sources said in May 2010 the city corporation decided to undertake a housing project with 1300 plots in 136 acres to be acquired in the three villages with an estimated cost of Tk 350 crore.
Source: New Age
