400 Acres of Farmland Grabbed for Illegal Ponds in Chandpur: MP Leads Eviction Drive, Excavator Seized, 3 Cases Filed

An eviction drive has been carried out in Ibrahimapur of Chandpur Sadar over allegations that the topsoil of nearly 400 acres of farmland was cut away to create ponds (jheels), occupied in the name of fish farming while the soil was sold off. The drive was conducted at 10 am on Thursday (October 22) in the Mukhaddi and Taltali areas, led by Sheikh Farid Ahmed Manik, the MP for Chandpur-3.

During the drive, an excavator (bheku) was seized and the fish being farmed in the ponds were released into the Meghna River. News of the operation brought relief to local landowners who had long feared losing their land.

During the drive, local landowners alleged that an influential syndicate had illegally occupied their ancestral property and farmland, cut away the soil and sold it to various brick kilns. They also alleged that they faced threats and beatings when they tried to resist.

Present during the operation were Chandpur Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer S. M. N. Jamiul Hikma, Sadar Model Police Station officer-in-charge Fayez, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Prattay Hashem, and district BNP vice-president Khalilur Rahman Gazi, among others.

Local landowner Md. Nurul Islam Rarhi said: 'We have ancestral property here. Our fathers and grandfathers grew various crops on this land. But some people, showing the muscle of power, threatened us and occupied the land. In the name of making fish ponds, they cut the soil of cropland and sold it to brick kilns.'

Another landowner, Idris Ali, said he owns 22 acres of ancestral property in the Mukhaddi area of Ward 4 of Ibrahimapur Union. When the syndicate occupied the land and began cutting soil, they resisted and were beaten, he alleged. Praising MP Sheikh Farid Ahmed Manik's initiative, he said they would pray to Allah for him for taking this step.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer S. M. N. Jamiul Hikma said the char has about 400 acres of land and a syndicate had been digging ponds there. The administration obstructed the digging at various stages; in about 40 drives, excavators were destroyed, yet the syndicate did not stop. As the area is remote, travel becomes difficult when the river is rough — and the syndicate used that opportunity to resume cutting soil.

The UNO added that in Thursday's drive the pond fish were released into the river, and arrangements would be made to settle the land among local farmers in accordance with government law. Three cases have already been filed over the incident, naming about 48 accused, and efforts are under way to arrest them. Many of the accused are not local; they came from various districts to take part in the activity, he said.

MP Sheikh Farid Ahmed Manik said a syndicate had come from across the river and was carrying out illegal activities on cultivable land and government khas land in Ibrahimapur Union, land on which local people used to farm for their livelihood. The administration had conducted many drives before, but once each drive ended, the syndicate returned and resumed the same work.

He said that coming to see the situation on the ground with the UNO, he found a terrible state of affairs, and if this continues, the amount of cultivable land will shrink in future. The government is trying to generate power through solar installations, he noted, and Ibrahimapur has a huge amount of land; if a solar power project were set up there in a planned way, both farmers and the country could benefit.

On ownership and settlement of the government land, MP Manik said the land belongs to the government and will remain settled in accordance with government rules and the gazette, with the Sadar upazila administration in charge of managing it. Steps will be taken to settle the land among the landless of the area following government rules, and he will discuss the matter at the highest levels of government. No one involved in these activities will be spared, whoever they may be, he said.

He added that it is a remote area where travel is extremely difficult; for the past four months the rough river made it hard for the administration to reach the area, and the syndicate exploited that time to carry out its activities. He expressed hope that everyone involved would be brought under the law quickly.

Taken together, the locals' allegations and the administration's account make one thing clear: this occupation syndicate could not be stopped even by some 40 previous drives. The question now is how permanent the surveillance will be after this drive, and how far the cases against the 48 accused will progress. Local farmers believe that if the announcement of settling the land among the landless is implemented, the fate of this 400-acre char could change.