Saidpur (Nilphamari) Correspondent :
The work of gas transmission project has started in Saidpur, Nilphamari without fixing the price of land acquisition. This has caused dissatisfaction among the landowners. Residents of the area protested and stopped the work of the project. The incident took place at Dhalagach Moti junction of Bagdokra mouza of the upazila on Wednesday.
The government has undertaken the task of laying a 30-inch diameter pipeline of 1000 PSIG with a length of 150 km to meet the demand of gas for commercial and other customers, including creating opportunities for construction of gas-based power plants and industrial establishments for socio-economic development in the northern districts of the country.
The total allocation for that work is 1,378.55 taka. GTCL authorities issued a letter in May 2018 seeking acquisition of land in the project area. The local administration also completed the route map and survey work.
Work on the project has recently resumed after a long hiatus due to corona outbreak and other reasons. The pipeline was laid by destroying the boro paddy fields planted in the field. The local administration and political leaders verbally promised quick compensation if the affected farmers were tied up.
But even after 3 weeks, the farmers expressed their frustration over not getting the notice (Section 7) for fixing the price of land. As a result, the farmers of Bagdokra mouza stopped work on the project on the mentioned day. At that time, they requested the district administration authorities to issue a section 7 notice.
Farmers Yusuf Ali, Azadul Islam, Omedul Islam Bablu, Amjad Hossain, Abdul Khaleq, Jamal Hossain Jadu, Md. Dabir Uddin, Aslam Uddin, Abdus Samad, Majidul Islam and many others of the area applied to the Deputy Commissioner to suspend all activities on the acquired and occupied land.
“After a few days, we would get boro paddy,” they said. We destroyed that crop land and gave up possession for the gas line. But we have not received the section notice yet. If we do not get section 7 notice, how will we know how much our land is worth? Farmers in the area said they would not allow them to work until they received a Section 7 notice.
Talking to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer on the phone, he said, “I have informed the higher authorities about this.” The next step will be taken as per their instructions.
