Officials and staff of Bangladesh Railway are illegally renting out their allotted flats to outsiders in a bid to getting easy money, thanks to lax monitoring and inaction of the authorities concerned.
Visiting the colony recently, these correspondents hardly found any railway staff living there. Most of them are outsiders, living in apparently a sorry state.
Mainly the inhabitants of the A, B and C type buildings rent out their flats. The A-type flats consist of two bedrooms and one living room, while the B and C types have three large rooms.
It was also found that three separate families were residing in the A-type flats. The big rooms are charged Tk5,000 each, while the small ones, usually given to bachelors, are available for a monthly rent of Tk3,000.
The flats are allotted based on the employees’ job statuses. The A-type flats are mainly allotted to Grade-4 employees, B-type buildings to Grade-3 officials, C-type to senior third grade and second grade officials while the D-type buildings to Grade-1 officials.
According to railway officials, there are 300 flats in the colony, of which 50 were allotted to Grade-1 officials.
The condition of the A-type flats is horrifying. Visiting random 15 flats, most of them were found to be very old, with plaster falling off the ceilings. The power and gas supply is also irregular in the buildings, the inhabitants claim.
Most of the drains in the colony premises have no cover. It is a risk to a stranger visiting the area at night as there are chances that the person may fall into one of them. The streets are also in a dilapidated condition.
A Grade-4 staff of the colony, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that he lives outside the colony with the family since there is “no congenial environment.”
“The government declared the colony as a residential one. But the railway authorities are indifferent over the presence of a big market in the middle of the colony,” he said.
About irregularities in the colony’s management, he said had the authorities been cautious, Jihad would not have fallen into the well of an abandoned water pump, which had no cover at the time of the incident.
The railway authorities have been setting up the pump for the last couple of years but could not complete it due to negligence, locals said.
Ahmed Ullah Shia, chief engineer of Bangladesh Railway, said work to build the pump started this year.
“The contractor company responsible for building the pump has already invested a lot of money. In the first well they did not get good quality water, so they left it and started digging another,” he cited as reasons behind the delay.
No railway officials were found in the B-type buildings, condition of which are a little better than the A-type ones. The main inhabitants rent out these flats for Tk15,000 per month, while Tk20,000 is the rent for the C-type buildings.
Asked about reason behind staying in the colony, a tenant named Md Hossain said even though the rent was high, the colony was close to the commercial hub Motijheel. “I know it is illegal, but I need it.”
When contacted, Abdul Hai, managing director of Employees’ Welfare Trust of Bangladesh Railway, admitted that it was illegal to rent out flats to others or use them for commercial purposes, as per the rules.
“If the allegations of renting out flats are proved, the allotments will be cancelled and legal action will be taken against them,” he told the Dhaka Tribune adding that they had learnt about some allegations. “We served notices several times to stop such malpractices,” he added.
Asked about taking legal action, General Manager (east) Mozammel Haque said they would take legal measures against the officials and staff for using their flats commercially.