Around 50 families in Chapainawabganj town have been ordered to leave homes where they say three to four generations have lived for at least 70 to 80 years, leaving the residents gripped by fear of eviction.
The families, residents of CCDB Khaspara in Swarupnagar village under Ward 3 of Chapainawabganj municipality, met the deputy commissioner recently seeking a suspension of the eviction drive. They claimed they were instead told that the decision of the assistant commissioner for land would remain in force and that they should remove their homes quickly.
Women, men, elderly residents and children had waited outside the deputy commissioner’s office since morning, sitting under a pakur tree to avoid the scorching sun. Some carried children in their arms, while several said they had gone without food throughout the day.
They were eventually allowed to meet the deputy commissioner in the afternoon, but said their appeal brought no relief.
The residents claimed that their families had lived on the khas land since the Pakistan period, or for at least seven to eight decades. They said the eviction order had created widespread panic in the settlement.
Laily Begum, one of the residents waiting outside the deputy commissioner’s office, said she had lived there for many years with her children and grandchildren.
“Where will we go after leaving this place? We have nowhere else,” she said.
Several other women, including Rawshan and Shanti, expressed similar fears.
“We previously lived in thatched houses. We gradually saved money and built tin-roofed homes,” Shanti said. “If these houses are demolished, our lifetime savings will be gone.”
The families urged the authorities to consider their situation on humanitarian grounds and renovate the road without demolishing their homes.
They said they had lived and worked in the area for decades and depended on its proximity to the town for their livelihoods. Moving elsewhere would severely affect their income, they added.
According to residents, the site was once jungle-covered khas land. Landless families cleared the area and gradually established the settlement.
They claimed they had long paid municipal taxes and that the municipality had constructed a herringbone road through the area. The road remains in use.
Residents said the communication and drainage problems could be resolved by widening the existing road to between eight and 10 feet and constructing a drain beneath it. Such a plan, they argued, would allow the long-established settlement to remain intact.
During a visit, this correspondent found that several mango orchards in front of and behind the settlement had been divided into plots and sold.
Residents alleged that the presence of the settlement was reducing the value of those plots and that this was the reason behind the eviction move. They also accused an employee of the deputy commissioner’s office of acting in collusion with the landowners.
Asked about the planned eviction, Ekramul Haque Nahid, assistant commissioner for land and executive magistrate of Chapainawabganj Sadar Upazila, said residents had been given time to leave.
“We went there and gave them time to move. I hope they will leave,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Abu Saleh Md Musa said occupied khas land within the municipality would be recovered.
“Those who are genuinely landless will be rehabilitated,” he said.
Chapainawabganj Zila Parishad Administrator and former MP Harunur Rashid Harun said people had lived in the area since the Pakistan period.
“I do not know about the eviction process as I am currently in Dhaka. I am making inquiries and taking the necessary steps to suspend the eviction drive for now,” he said.
He added that he would visit the area after returning from Dhaka.
Chapainawabganj Sadar MP Nurul Islam Bulbul said the families must be rehabilitated before any eviction, as they had lived there for many years.
