IT IS reported that the government is set to forcibly evict over 1,000 villagers who are refusing to leave their age-old homesteads on the land acquired for coal mining at Barapukuria. It is understandable that the government can legally acquire land for public purpose and that should mean that while acquiring the land of the people human consideration must also be an important factor to look into.
The report said that the area became risky for inhabitation as intense subsidence could occur due to the new phase of underground coal mining. The government announced a Tk 191 crore compensation package in 2010 to the villagers to be evacuated and in last year the authority concerned built barrack type accommodations on 30 acres of land to rehabilitate 310 landless families awaiting eviction. The government plans to provide single room accommodation to each of the families which the villagers consider far from sufficient shelter for a family of five to six members.
The villagers also resent that the government created no playgrounds, mosques, temples or any other civic facilities for social interactions for their families. Moreover, the authorities have not handed over the shelters to the villagers to be thrown out of their age old only shelters. BCMCL only compensated the landed farmers calculating the losses they would incur losing their profitable crop fields.
The underground mining of coal increased the risks of more areas caving in. The villagers made complaints that the authorities neither provided alternative shelters nor a part of the monetary compensations to the landless families for which they have been refusing to leave their homes and hearths. At least 50 percent of 2,000 villagers, mostly members of 418 landless families, have been refusing to leave their villages saying that the government did not fulfill its commitment to rehabilitate the people who will be dislodged.
Experts said the new strategy adopted in August 2013 for underground coal mining would increase the risks of severe subsidence in the area, threatening a man-made disaster while capacity and anti-disaster preparedness to face mine-related disasters is very limited. Moreover, extracting coal in open mine systems is not viable considering the land cost, excavation cost, dewatering cost and operation cost.
We are aware that in the present political atmosphere the government or its officials do not care much about public accountability for doing things in the name of good of the people. Still we shall expect that the human aspect of the situation will receive due importance.
