Over 1,200 illegal structures evicted

The Sonargaon upazila administration has evicted more than 1,200 illegal structures, including fruit stalls, built by occupying land belonging to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) along the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in the Mograpara Chowrasta area of Narayanganj.

The eviction drive was conducted from Thursday morning until noon through a mobile court led by Mamun Sarkar, Assistant Commissioner (Land) and Executive Magistrate of Sonargaon.

Officials from the RHD, including Sub-Divisional Assistant Engineer Al Razi Leon and Surveyor Dewan Mohammad Sohag, as well as police from Sonargaon Police Station, were present during the operation.

According to officials involved in the drive, several influential local individuals had long been occupying RHD land beside the highway and constructing makeshift shops and other illegal structures. They would subsequently rent out the structures to small traders for substantial sums of money.

The illegal occupations had caused severe traffic congestion on the highway’s service lanes and feeder roads, creating considerable hardship for commuters and pedestrians.

Following the eviction drive, Mamun Sarkar said the illegal structures occupying RHD land in the Mograpara Chowrasta area had been removed. He said the structures had been causing daily traffic congestion and public suffering.

He added that such drives would continue to protect government property and keep the highway free from illegal encroachment and traffic congestion.