The land acquisition process was completed around three decades ago for establishing Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation's (BSCIC) industrial area in Muktagachha, but the project is yet to be started. 

With a view to setting up the industrial area at Satashia, beside Mymensingh-Tangail highway in Muktagachha, 5.20 acres of agricultural land was acquired in 1991. Later, only the earth filling of the land was done.

Now, vested quarters are grabbing the land but the authorities concerned have taken no steps to protect it from the grabbers, locals alleged.

The area is near the borders of Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Tangail and is well-connected with the district town and Dhaka, so the project can be successful, said Zakir Hossain Babul, a fish trader in Muktagachha.

Huge quantity of agricultural products and fruits, including banana, jackfruit and pineapple, are grown in the upazila, and there are also lots of fruits in adjacent Madhupur Forest in Tangail, locals said.

Establishing agri-based industries here will be very beneficial as the upazila also has gas facility, they said.

If the project is completed, entrepreneurs of Mymensingh and outside would be benefited, creating job opportunities for hundreds of people, said Kumargata Union Parishad Chairman Md Akbar Ali Sarker.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Subarna Sarkar said a portion of the land has been grabbed as it has been lying unused for a long time.

The UNO said she and other officials of the upazila administration visited the site recently and asked Assistant Commissioner (AC-land) Razib-Ul-Ahsan to measure the land and submit a report to the concerned ministry. The grabbed land will be recovered soon, she said.

Preferring not to be named, an official of BSCIC, Mymensingh, said the Muktagachha project taken for fruit processing and storage of different vegetables was gazetted in 2015 for allocation of 38 plots. The cost of the project is around Tk 26.35 lakh, he said.

The entrepreneurs are not showing much interest as the government fixed the price of land at Tk 2 lakh per decimal, and 70 percent of the total price has to be paid as down- payment, which the entrepreneurs think is too costly, the official said.

They usually allocate the plots to the entrepreneurs after ensuring necessary facilities, including road and supply of electricity and water, but no such facilities are available now, he added.