A government crackdown on illegal land grabbers has been making significant progress in reclaiming land for the third phase of the Ashrayan-2 project.
According to project sources, the government has already recovered 5512.04 acres of khas land from illegal occupation to build homes for the homeless.
The market price of the recovered land is about Tk3,000 crore, said Ashrayan-2 project Director Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan.
In addition to the reclaimed land, about 155 acres of new land has been purchased for the project. The government has allocated Tk108,91,20,000 for the purchase of land to build homes, the director said.
Prime Minister's Office Senior Secretary Tofazzal Hossain Mia said: “As per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directive, there will be no homeless people in the country. If there is no government land to ensure housing for all, land will be purchased.”
So far, 6,891 families have been rehabilitated on purchased land.
When asked about the identities of the illegal land grabbers, government officials said many of them were businessmen and influential people.
Savar Upazilla Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Mazharul Islam said: “For example, 1.41 acres of the recovered khas land had been in the possession of a businessman named Idris. Dhaka Shanghai Ceramics Limited occupied the land in the Gohailbari area under Shimulia union in 2013.”
The company, which was allegedly founded by a group of pro-BNP businessmen and politician Mossadak Ali Falu, had been using the land to store ceramic clay until it was reclaimed last year, the UNO added.
ABM Azharul Islam Suruj, chairman of Shimulia Union in Savar, said the government had already begun constructing 64 houses for homeless families on the recovered land.
In Sirajganj Sadar, the government has so far constructed 2,666 houses on 10 acres of khas land that was recovered from local land grabbers, officials said.
Sirajganj Sadar UNO Mashukate Rabbi told Dhaka Tribune the illegal occupants of the government land were legally evicted and no one other than the families given the land under the Ashryan-2 project would be able to claim ownership in future.
“The land grabbers used to rent out these places, and someone else used to cultivate them. Now the land has been allotted to the landless, and no one will be able to evict them later,” he added.
As many as 65,474 single houses are being constructed under the third phase of the Ashrayan-2 Project. According to the third phase project profile, the government has raised the cost and brought about changes in the design to make the Ashrayan houses more sustainable and climate resilient.
A total of 117,329 single houses were constructed under the first and second phases of the project, and an allocation for 182,803 more houses was given in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
Around Tk 3971,6, 83,000 was allocated for the construction of the houses.
Furthermore, 1,042 specially designed houses have been allotted for the char region under the third phase.
A total of 708,003 families, or 3,540,015 people, have been rehabilitated under the Ashrayan project since 1997.