Acquisition of farmland for new town not justified

NEWS report in a national daily on Thursday said people of several villages in char areas of Mymensingh Sadar upazila are passing their days in serious anxieties after the Local Administration made the disclosure that it is planning to acquire around 4366 acres of land for infrastructure development of Mymensingh Divisional Headquarters. The map covers homesteads and farmlands; which are agitating the locals because their eviction will make them homeless while losing farmland will deprive them of growing crops to feed families. People of the area regardless of their political affiliation or socio-economic groups are protesting the government’s plan and opposed to it. We believe that the government must take into consideration their concern and try to find new location around where khas land is abundant.

The proposed area includes char villages like Anandipur, Gobindapur, Ishwardia, Bhawanipur, Durgapur, Jelkhana and Laxmir Algi in Sadar upazila. Around 20,000 families live in the areas and 98 percent of them are directly dependent on agriculture. Land acquisition by the government for establishing a new Divisional Headquarter is essential but it must not be by evicting the poor villagers.

It is invariably a life and death question of farmers and it appears that their opposition to the government plan may make it a bigger issue at the end if the gravity of the situation is not realized now. Locals have suggested that the government may acquire its khas land at char areas on both sides of the Brahmaputra River instead of targeting densely populated char villages. A new Divisional Headquarter needs huge infrastructure development but the location should not cost farmlands and evicting homesteads of thousands of farmers.

We know there is a serious scarcity of farmlands in the region but it appears that the government is quite insensitive while it plans new township to be built on farmlands and evicting people from their homes. The land the government is planning to acquire is valuable to farmers to grow crops round the year. Farmers don’t want cash for land; they want their land must remain in their hands for now and for future generation. Money will not bring their land again. When the locals say the land they will secede will make the rich happy while the poor will be landless and homeless is not unfounded either.

Locals are blaming a section of influential quarters for working with a section of government to plan the new township on their land. They are putting their hand to grab most of the land at the end. Farmland is reducing sharply and farmers’ anxiety is only growing fearing that they may lose their land. In our view the entire plan should be reviewed to spare farmers land and homes unaffected.