Srimangal (Moulvibazar) Correspondent //

The dead river Vilas of Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar district is being encroached upon. The encroachers are showing the administration the thumbs up and building various structures including houses, cattle sheds, and rice seedbeds in different parts of the Vilas River. Even after encroaching, they are also getting involved in their own internal disputes while trying to remove each other. One of these encroachers is Abdul Hannan.

Locals complained that Hannan Mia has encroached on different parts of the Vilas River. He has recently encroached on a large area of ​​the Vilas River opposite Raja Fisari and is building a seedbed. Yesterday, Wednesday morning, when Hannan Mia’s son Masum Mia cut down a eucalyptus tree, the locals informed the administration and the media. Upon receiving the news, local media workers went to the ground and saw two farmers preparing about two bighas of land for a seedbed in Mara Bilas. The workers are preparing to plant rice seeds in the Mara Bilas River section in front of British-Bangla Agro Limited. There is a cut tree next to the government rural road at that place. At that time, locals said that Abdul Hannan is forcibly encroaching on government land on Mara Bilas River and cultivating it. And the tree was cut by his son Masum Mia. Yusuf Mia, who works as a laborer on government land on Mara Bilas River, said, “Hannan Mia has used us to build a seedbed. Although the land is on the Bilas River and government land, we are laborers. We came here to work on Hannan’s words.” Local resident Ilias Mia said that Hannan Mia is building a seedbed here on government land. As a result, the water has stopped flowing. There is more land upstream that Hannan Mia has encroached on. He has encroached on various parts of the Mara Ganga, which is a government land. If anyone obstructs him, he threatens to attack.

Md. Harunur Rashid Harun, manager of British-Bangla Agro Limited located on the banks of Matiganj Vilas, said, “I have been working in British-Bangla for 13 years. According to what I have seen, Hannan Mia and his son Masum Mia have encroached on a large part of the entire Mara River. When they occupied the part in front of our fishing pond, when I tried to stop them, they (Hannan Mia and his son Masum) abused me in obscene language and beat me up. One of our water motors was stolen, his son stole fish from our fishing pond. One day, our guard saw Hannan’s son Masum stealing fish from pond number 9. He tried to catch him. He ran away. There was no protest against that. There was no protest against beating me either. Hannan and his son have been doing this kind of torture all the time.”
Another local resident, Makhlis Mia, said that there is no water in the once-flowing dead section of the Vilas River during the dry season. Abdul Hannan is forcibly occupying the dead Vilas River in the Matiganj area of ​​this part for cultivation. Not only for cultivation, but also for cutting and selling the soil on the banks of the dead river, cutting trees along the road, stealing fish from local fishponds, paying rent by grazing cows and buffaloes on the government-owned part of the Mara River, and occupying the river’s land to set up a hatchery.

Regarding the allegations, Md. Abdul Hannan said that he gave the hatchery on his own land, not the river’s land. However, I will put a net for the Boro crop in the ‘fallen area’ of the river. After one to one and a half months, when the Boro rice seedlings grow a little, I will pick them up from here and plant them in my land elsewhere. After that, this place will be lying idle. He said that it is not the rainy season now, so there is no water in this dead river. As a result, I have spread the net. I have also arranged this place with workers to spread the Boro paddy net. When asked about the cutting of trees on government land by his son Masum Mia, Abdul Hannan said, I did not know that trees were being cut. My son made a mistake by cutting the tree.

Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Srimangal Upazila Salauddin Biswas told The Daily Morning Sun, after hearing the incident, I have sent our Union Land Assistant Officer to the spot. If anyone has done anything illegal and comes to our investigation, we will take action as per the rules.

In this regard, Assistant Land Officer of Srimangal Sharbindu Dutta said that the truth of encroachment by Hannan Mia has been found after going to the land. He has informed the Assistant Commissioner (Land) of the Upazila as per the law.

Apart from Abdul Hannan, other people have also encroached on various parts of the Bilas River. Locals are demanding that the administration quickly rescue the river land from these encroachers and protect the river.