Friday, November 22, 2024

Agonies of affected farmers mount at Barapukuria

Compensation not paid in three months
Sufferings of the locals who could not grow aman crop due to subsidence of land around Barapukuria colliery in the last few seasons, have multiplied as they have not been given compensation three months after the harvest this season.
No one can say when the affected farmers will get the compensation as the matter has been shuttling between the Barapukuria coal mine company (BCMCL) and the deputy commissioner’s office of Dinajpur.
Locals and officials concerned told New Age that BCMCL gave compensation for subsidence of croplands regularly before harvest over the past few seasons.
The deputy commissioner’s office took responsibility for all compensations and land acquisition for the Barapukuria coalmine project after the government had declared a compensation package on November 8, 2010.
BCMCL managing director Mohammad Kamruzzaman told New Age that the deputy commissioner’s office was conducting a survey to make an assessment of the damage done to cropland, businesses and habitation by land subsidence. ‘We are no more concerned about it’, he added.
Most of the solvent farmers became day labourers after mining started at Barapukuria as they lost their croplands partially or fully due to land subsidence.
Ataur Rahman of Barapukuria bazar area with five dependents was now flat broke after losing his five acres of farmland to the coalmine. Mojibur Rahman, an elderly farmer of Jigagari village, told New Age that his three acres of farmland, which had subsided due to mining, had been the only means of livelihood for his 15-member family.
‘One acre was lost to subsidence two years back and the rest two acres have also started subsiding. No one from the authorities concerned offered me any compensation… Now how can I run this large family…,’ he said.
Almost all affected families of Jigagari, Kalupara, Baidyanathpur, Balarampur and Pachgharia mauzas have similar stories to tell.
BCMCL had been compensating people for lost farmlands since 2005-06 fiscal year after 9.5 acres of cropland had subsided for the first time for coal extraction from Barapukuria mine.
In 2009-10 fiscal year, the amount of subsided farmland increased to 201.7 acres and BCMCL gave affected farmers Tk 36,700 as compensation for Boro crop on an acre.
Farmers at Jigagari told New Age that coal extraction had triggered land subsidence in new areas in the north of the village which would greatly affect farmers who had already planted Boro seedlings for the present season.
In this situation, Barapukuria Bhumi o Shampad Rakhya Committee and local wing of the Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Port and Power submitted a memorandum to the BCMCL office demanding resumption of compensation to the affected farmers. Or, the committees warned, they would go for tougher programmes from this month, said the leaders of the organisations.
Mohammad Jamal Uddin Ahmed, deputy commissioner of Dinajpur, told New Age that his office was instructed by the government to pay compensation to the affected people but it needed to conduct a survey first.
But the locals were not allowing the DC office to conduct any survey fearing that they would not be compensated once the survey was over, said the DC office sources.
Rabiul, a resident of Barapukuria bazar area, told New Age that the villagers had lost confidence as no formal declaration had came from the higher level of the administration in the new compensation package declared by the government.
People of Jigagri on February 20 obstructed a government move to make an assessment of the property damaged for compensation after a survey team led by two magistrates went to Barapukuria bazar.
Earlier locals had refused to accept the compensation package of Tk 190 crore announced by the government on November 8, 2010 as it did not contain any rehabilitation scheme for 406 affected people.
In early January, the state minister for land, Mostafizur Rahman, also local member of parliament, announced that the government was considering the rehabilitation issue in the revised compensation package.

 

Courtesy of New Age

Related News

Khaleda joins Armed Forces Day event after 12 years

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday attended the Armed Forces Day reception programme at Senakunja after 12 years. Chief adviser to the interim government Muhammad Yunus exchanged greetings with Khaleda Zia at the reception programme at Dhaka Cantonment. Khaleda last attended the Armed Forces Day ... Read more

AMM Nasir Uddin made CEC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Former secretary AMM Nasir Uddin has been appointed as the new chief election commissioner. President Muhammed Shahabuddin appointed him and other election commissioners on Thursday, a day after the EC search committee submitted the shortlist containing 10 names for those posts. Other members of the commission are former additional secretary Md ... Read more

JU student lost life after being hit by battery-run rickshaw on campus

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A first-year student of Jahangirnagar University died after she was hit by a battery-powered rickshaw on campus yesterday evening. Afsana Karim was a student of marketing and a resident of Begum Khaleda Zia Hall. Her parents live in Sherpur. In security camera footage, Afsana was seen walking near the arts building ... Read more

Education must foster creativity : Professor Yunus

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday (20 November) that Bangladesh’s education system must foster creativity to create a generation of entrepreneurs. “We should reform the education system in a way that it creates a generation of entrepreneurs. We need education, which helps students become creative people. Our young people ... Read more

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims observed

News Desk : dhakamirror.com World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was observed in Bangladesh on Sunday as elsewhere in the world. To mark the day, different government and non-government organisations held different programmes on the day. The day is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. Dhaka North City Corporation on ... Read more

Chief Adviser opens waiting lounge at Dhaka airport

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Dr. Muhammad Yunus has opened a new waiting lounge for expatriate workers and their families at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The lounge was inaugurated after his return from the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Dr. Yunus mentioned that he had previously opened a lounge for expatriate workers before ... Read more

Saudi Arabia opens doors to nurses from Bangladesh in landmark move

There are only a few dozen clinicians among nearly 30 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia Kamran Siddiqui Highlights Saudi Arabia has begun recruiting Bangladeshi nurses, marking a significant milestone in overseas employment, as the Gulf nation traditionally employs lower-wage, less-skilled workers from the country. The recruitment process, targeting an initial intake of 500 nurses, ... Read more

DU changes admission test for Ijtema, ‘Ka’ unit exam to February 15

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The General Admission Committee of Dhaka University (DU) has rescheduled the “Ka” unit (science) admission test to February 15 due to the Biswa Ijtema. Previously, the exam was scheduled for February 1. “We decided to defer the ‘Ka’ unit test date as it coincides with Biswa Ijtema,” said Professor Mamun Ahmed, ... Read more

Yunus opens dedicated lounge for migrant workers at Dhaka airport

News Desk : dhakamirror.com In a heartfelt acknowledgment of their invaluable contributions, the country is set to honour its expatriate workers with a new lounge at the Dhaka airport designed to make their journeys more comfortable. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday inaugurated a special lounge for the country’s migrant workers at Hazrat Shahjalal ... Read more

Khaleda’s 10-year jail term stayed by SC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday stayed a 2018 High Court ruling that had extended Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia’s prison sentence from five years to 10 years in the Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Orphanage Trust case. A three-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam ... Read more

JnU students end protests after demands met

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Jagannath University students on Tuesday withdrew their movement, for the construction of the university’s second campus, after the interim government accepted their demands. AKM Rakib, an organiser of the movement, told reporters after a meeting held at the education ministry on the day that they were withdrawing the movement. ‘The government ... Read more

Applications for school admission begin

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Admission applications for grades one to nine in both public and private schools have started this morning. Students can start applying online from 11am. The application process will continue until 5pm on November 30, reports The Business Standard. After the application period ends, students will be chosen through a digital lottery, ... Read more

Grandchildren of deceased government employees now eligible to receive pensions, gratuity

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Government employees’ pensions and retirement benefits have been modified by the government, allowing their grandchildren to receive them in the event that no other eligible nominee is available. In this regard, a notification was released by the finance ministry today, November 10. The amendment comes amid a legal complication in this ... Read more

Entry exam for MBBS on January 17 and BDS on February 28

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The entrance exam for MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) 2024-2025 academic year will be held on January 17, while the BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery ) is scheduled for February 28. The dates were finalised at a meeting today at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at ... Read more

BMD Winter outlook: Winter going to be colder this year

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Eight to ten mild to moderate cold waves could hit the country in the upcoming winter, a Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) official stated yesterday. Two to three of those waves could turn into severe cold waves, with temperatures likely to drop as low as 4 degree Celsius, in the northwestern, northeastern, ... Read more

Govt made the decision to revoke Cyber Security Act

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bangladesh’s interim government advisory council, on Thursday, made a policy decision to repeal the controversial Cyber Security Act. This decision was made at a meeting held at the office of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in Tejgaon, Dhaka. After the meeting, environment, forests and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hassan confirmed ... Read more

Everyone must work together to save rivers: Rizwana

News Desk : dhakamirror.com “We must save rivers and stop pollution caused by mills and industries. However, the entire responsibility cannot be imposed on the government. Everyone must work together,” said Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan yesterday. “In a democracy, everyone has a stake. Preservation of the environment will only be successful when everybody participates,” ... Read more

Actress Shomi Kaiser arrested

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Actress Shomi Kaiser has been arrested from Uttara in the capital, said the police. Uttara West police station officer-in-charge Hafizur Rahman stated that she was arrested from a house in Sector 4 of Uttara at around 1:00 am on Wednesday. An on-duty officer at the Uttara (West) police station confirmed that ... Read more

Ijtema scheduled for two phases from January 31 to February 9: home adviser

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Bishwa Ijtema is set to take place in two phases from January 31 to February 9 next year, as announced today by Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury. The first phase will be held from January 31 to February 2, with the second phase from February 7 to ... Read more

Bangladesh sent 9.3 lakh workers abroad since Jan

BSS With sincere efforts by different stakeholders, especially the government, Bangladesh sent abroad 9.3 lakh workers with jobs from January to 2 November this year. “The trend of overseas employment is satisfactory so far and we are expecting to send more remittance senders with jobs this year,” Director of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training ... Read more