KCC councillor’s men fill up waterbody on BR land

An eight feet deep waterbody on 66-decimal land owned by Bangladesh Railway in Khulna city has allegedly been filled up by followers of a city corporation councillor. Now plans are afoot to build a park and other structures there.

BR has lodged a general diary with Government Railway Police (GRP) station  against one Joni Mia on November 30, 2022  in this connection. Joni had leased the land on west side of Khulna Polytechnic Institute in the city's Khalishpur area from BR. He was supposed to protect and maintain the water reservoir. But instead, he filled it up following instructions from Aminul Islam Munna, councillor of ward-15.

Visiting the spot recently, it was seen that the waterbody has been turned into a plain field. Some workers were leveling it.

Locals said a children's park, councillor's office, shops, and multi-storey market will be built on the land.

"Councillor Munna's men filled up the water body in broad daylight during his tenure as a KCC panel mayor," said Imtiaz Sheikh, a local.

"No one, not even BR officials, dared to resist him. The councillor claimed it is an abandoned land owned by KCC and they are planning to construct some establishments on it, including a park for children," he added.

Contacted, Mohshin Ali, field land officer of Jashore and Khulna, said, "Joni Mia, who had leased the land from railways, collaborated with the local councillor and other local influential people in November last year to fill up the waterbody without BR's permission."

"The then land officer, Md Monirul Islam, submitted a statement to the GRP police station on November 30 in this connection."

"When GRP personnel started investigating the matter, Munna and his men used their influence to stop it. Eventually, the entire waterbody on 66-decimal land of the railway was gradually filled up," he added.

Idris Ali Mridha, officer-in-charge of GRP Khulna, said, "The local councillor had claimed there was no place to dump soil accumulated during a drain renovation, so they filled up the waterbody with the soil upon orders of the KCC mayor."

Contacted, Aminul Islam Munna also claimed they filled up the waterbody after informing the KCC mayor.

"The waterbody had turned into a mosquito breeding ground, causing nuisance to the locals. So I talked to the mayor about it and filled up the reservoir for the peoples' sake. A children's park will be built there in near future," he said.

Asked if it was right to fill up the waterbody on railway's land without its permission, he declined to comment.

Laskar Tajul Islam, chief executive officer of KCC, informed that the city corporation has no plan to set up a park there as of yet. He also said the mayor didn't have any prior knowledge of the encroachment.

Mahfuzur Rahman Mukul, divisional coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association in Khulna, said, "Authorities continue to turn a blind eye to public representatives and influentials encroaching waterbodies by using their political power."

Md Nuruzzaman, divisional land property officer (Pakshi zone) of BR, said, "Legal action will be taken against those who filled up the reservoir. I have already ordered the land officer to put up fencing around the place."