The Roads and Highways Department coming to suspend its eviction drive to reclaim grabbed land after one of its surveyors was attacked by illegal occupiers speaks of the sorry state of reclamation efforts. The surveyor came under attack on September 2 during a drive to demolish illegal structures beside the Dhaka鈥揗ymensingh Highway at Sripur in Gazipur. Officials of the Roads and Highways Department say that two hours into the drive, a group of businesspersons started beating the department鈥檚 surveyor in the presence of police and the Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel. Local people say that the man who led the attack has for long occupied the department鈥檚 land, erecting a number of structures on it before renting them out to businesspersons. Although no comprehensive survey has been carried out on the extent of Roads and Highways Department land that has been illegally grabbed, it is easy to infer, from numerous reports, that a huge area of land along the highways remains under encroachment, with illegal commercial and residential structures erected there. Roadside structures of this kind are also believed to contribute to accidents as they alter road design or obstruct drivers鈥� views.
Much of the forest land, river land, water bodies, railway land and other government land has similarly been illegally occupied and the authorities have largely failed to reclaim the areas. Even when they succeed in reclaiming some of the grabbed land, the situation almost invariably reverts to the previous state, with old and new encroachers returning in weeks after eviction. Attacks on government officials during such operations are not new either. On March 31, 2024, for example, a forest official was run over by a dumper truck during a drive against illegal hill cutting. In 2020, another forest official was killed. Officials of other agencies have also come under attack on several occasions in the past. Such incidents only corroborate the fact that people with political influence and financial clout are among the principal land grabbers, who often enjoy impunity and even receive underhand support from complicit government officials. They also expose the lack of preparation and coordination among government agencies engaged in eviction drives. In the Gazipur incident, the surveyor was assaulted in the presence of law enforcement personnel and yet, the immediate response of the implementing agency was to suspend the drive, an action that is clearly unacceptable.
The authorities should, therefore, address all the issues that stand in the way of sustainable reclamation of illegally occupied land and take stern action against all illegal occupiers, regardless of their political or financial influence. The Gazipur incident should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice without delay.