A drive for evicting illegal structures from the land claimed to be owned by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority adjacent to Barisal river port, was forced to stop within an hour due to interference of Barisal City Corporation (BCC) on Wednesday noon.
Md. Qamruzzaman, administrative magistrate in charge of operating eviction drive on behalf of BIWTA, said they started eviction drive at about 11:00 am on Wednesday.
But the drive was forced to stop within an hour after the chief executive officer of BCC giving phone call to the magistrate claimed ownership of the land.
Then both sides agreed to seat in a meeting with documents about ownership of the land within next three-day.
After BCC interference the eviction drive was announced to be postponed till that meeting and taking further step according to the decision of the meeting, said the magistrate.
Nikhil Chandra Das, Chief Executive Officer of BCC, said that BCC has own land and under construction establishments on the land where BIWTA started operating eviction drives.
None, except BCC, was authorised to evict any thing from the land owned by BCC and so they informed the matter to the executive magistrate in charge of the BIWTA eviction drive and he stopped the drive till further decision, the BCC CEO told.
Md. Shahidullah, deputy director BIWTA and Barisal port officer, said about 300 illegal structure established on the land owned by BIWTA from 150 feet of the river bed to three and half kilometers area around the port.
According to a list BIWTA started eviction drives to construct passenger shade, different establishments for modernisation and increase of beautification of the port. But that eviction drive was forced to be postponed after evicting 50 establishments as BCC authority raised objection, told the BIWTA official.
