Following the tragic rail accident that claimed four lives at Karwan Bazar in the capital on Thursday, the railway authority in a three-hour drive yesterday demolished illegal makeshift establishments, shops and fish market near the rail tracks.
Around 100 people, including railway staff and police, and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police participated in the drive starting from the Film Development Corporation (FDC) gate, said Rafiqul Islam, operations officer of Bangladesh Government Railway Police.
Divisional Estate Officer of Bangladesh Railway Nurun Nabi Kabir, who led the drive, said they started at 10:00 am and ended at 1:00 pm. More than 150 establishments were demolished, he added.
On Thursday, four people were killed when they jumped on to the track of an express train to avoid being run over by another train. Five others were also seriously injured in the accident. One of the four victims whose identity could not be known on Thursday has now been identified as Asma Begum, 27.
“All illegal structures from the FDC area to Tejgaon railway station will be removed. We demolished many establishments today (Friday). The drive is not complete. It is a continuous process that will resume in a few days,” Kabir said.
“We will not permit anybody to occupy the places on and along the rail tracks,” he claimed.
Asked why they had suddenly launched the drive, he said: “Thursday’s accident was an eye-opener. We will evict these illegal occupants.”
According to railway officials and police, several incidents of this nature take place at Karwan Bazar every year. There are two parallel tracks from Kamalapur to Tongi. As there is a bend on rail line between the Tejgaon crossing and the FDC gate, pedestrians are not able to spot oncoming trains from a distance to enable them to move away to safety.
An illegal makeshift fish market near the track at Karwan Bazar is another cause for accidents.
When asked why the railway authority did not launch such drives in the past to free government land, Kabir said, “We detained many shopkeepers and asked them not to set up shops there. Although they agreed, they did not keep their word.”
The police and Government Railway Police who accompanied the railway team to conduct the drive blamed the railway authority for their not taking steps to prevent grabbing.
“We have suggested to the railway authority conduct drives several times, but they didn’t show interest,” said Abdul Majid, officer-in-charge of Kamalapur GRP.
OC of Tejgaon police station Mazharul Islam said, “Decisions had been taken several times earlier to demolish these illegal establishments. The railway authority was supposed to launch the drives, but the drives were delayed for several reasons.”
Although makeshift shops near the rail track have been in existence for years, the GRP and Tejgaon police have done nothing to demolish them, locals claimed, as some members of GRP and Tejgaon police, political leaders and traders share the toll collected from these makeshift shops.
Even before the commencement of the demolition drive, there was a signboard hanging with an illegal structure along the track that read, “Bangladesh Railway Community Police. The organisation is approved by the GRP.” It mentioned one “Commander Siraj” as the leader who was, in fact, the leader of toll collectors.
He deployed 30-40 people to collect money from these shops. The team used to collect Tk100-Tk150 per day from every illegal shop.
Meanwhile, the evicted businessmen alleged that they were being displaced without prior notice.
“I have lost goods worth around Tk10 lakh. All have been damaged,” said Hossain, owner of a garage in FDC area. “I could have moved them if notified earlier. My two micro-buses have also been damaged.”
Asked why he had been running business occupying the railway land illegally, he said, “I have rented this shop. I give monthly rent to Siraj Commander.”
Railway official Nurun Nabi brushed aside the allegation saying, “We told them to remove their shops yesterday. They had even been asked this morning, an hour before our drive began.”
He said they had heard the name of Siraj Commander. “We are trying to find out if there is anyone by this name at railway department,” he added.
Situation changes before the drive
Small fish traders did not sit near the rail track yesterday morning due to Thursday’s accident. The fish market generally starts at 7:00 am.
Visiting the place before the drive, it was found that some youths carrying sticks were roaming around the rail track near fish market at Karwan Bazar. They were warning everybody not to sit on the tracks with bowls of fish. The youths did not want to disclose their names, but said until the tensed situation over the accident was changed, they would not allow anyone to sit with fish on the rail line.
Retail fish trader Md Shahjahan, who usually buy fish from the wholesale market and sell them on the rail track said, “They are not allowing us today. But they take Tk100-Tk150 every day to allow us to sell on the tracks.”
“That accident has put us in trouble. After some days, the market will open again. And these people will increase the toll amount.” he said.