Misappropriation of govt land?
Miracle Miles International, a private company, has taken it upon itself to start a project to beautify a prime location beside Chawkbazar-Muradpur Road in Panchlaish area of the port city.
It was all well and good till then. But the real "miracle" is the fact that the venture has kicked off without signing any agreements with Chattogram City Corporation or obtaining necessary permissions from the Chattogram Development Authority.
The land is owned by the Public Works Department. Needless to say, their permission was not taken either.
The only person within CCC that this reporter spoke to who was aware of the development was Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury himself.
Sources inside CCC and CDA hint at the involvement of influential CCC officials in what they are calling an "eyebrow-raising" act of "misappropriation of government land".
Visiting the area recently, by the side of a busy road opposite to Katalganj Petrol Pump, it was seen that some of the structures were already put up while construction work was ongoing
Omar Faruk, the company's head of operations, said they would build walkways, passenger shed, public toilet, gymnasium, kids' zone, game zone, Bangabandhu Corner, library, and murals of former mayors, among other establishments.
The works started in October and will be completed in six months, he said, adding that the company would be in charge of the constructed sites.
The library, kids' zone, and gymnasium will have free access, while a nominal payment will be needed for the gaming zone and public toilet, said Faruk.
However, CCC sources say a restaurant and pharmacy are also being built there.
Sheikh Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, chief executive officer of CCC, expressed shock at the developments when this correspondent reached out to him for comment.
"As the city corporation does not own the land, I declined to sign an agreement with the company in October. I wonder how they are constructing structures despite this," he said.
"Perhaps they have gotten verbal permission from the mayor. I will talk to the mayor about it," he said.
Even the CCC's engineering department did not know anything.
Contacted, Abu Siddique, superintendent engineer (civil) of CCC, said, "We don't know anything about the project. The mayor's personal secretary Abul Hashem may know what's going on."
Hashem could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, CDA is the statutory body that permits the construction of establishments in the port city.
"CCC officials neither informed us nor sought any permission," said Hasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of CDA. "I think something fishy is going on. We will send the city corporation a letter," he added.
The Public Works Department owns the land under what used to be the Panchlaish Residential Area project. It was handed over to CCC in 1988 for maintenance and future road expansion, said Rahul Guha, executive engineer of PWD, Chattogram.
Subhash Barua, vice president of Forum for Planned Chattogram and a town planner, said constructing structures on the land earmarked for potential road expansion is impractical and problematic, suggesting that the proposed gymnasium and kids' zone may merely be a façade for another commercial project in an unsuitable location beside a busy road.
THE MAYOR'S VERSION
Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury said CCC reclaimed the land for beautification due to unsocial activities occurring at night in the previously open space.
Admitting that CCC is working alongside Miracle Miles for the beautification project, he said, "As the city corporation doesn't own the land, we could not sign any agreement with the company."
However, this does not still explain why PWD, the original owner of the land, was not kept in the loop before initiating the project.
Regarding CDA's permission, he said the city corporation has never taken permission from the CDA to construct establishments.
"We do not need permission," the mayor said.
When asked why his colleagues were kept in the dark, he said the engineering and town planning departments of CCC knew about the project.
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