Local resident Shahjahan Pyada has been accused of farming on a government-recorded road in Patuakhali’s Dumki upazila by fencing it off with bamboo.
Following a field inspection, upazila land office officials have given those responsible seven days to remove the bamboo fence from the road.
Upazila land office kanungo Md Saiful Islam and union land assistant officer A K M Fazlul Haque inspected the government road running from Kathaltala to the middle of the tahsil office in Ward No. 1 of the upazila’s Lebukhali union Monday morning, August 31.
Local sources said Shahjahan Pyada, a resident of Ward No. 1 in Lebukhali union, his son Ramim Pyada, who serves in the army, and Shahjahan Pyada’s wife, Daisy Begum, were accused of starting to farm on the government road by fencing it off with bamboo, obstructing passage.
Over this, Gazi Sohrab Hossain, a former headmaster at Lebukhali Habibullah Secondary School, filed a written application with the upazila land office demanding removal of the bamboo fence placed on the government road.
Following the application, upazila land office officials visited the site Monday morning to inspect the situation. After the inspection, respondent Shahjahan Pyada was given a seven-day deadline to remove the bamboo fence from the government road.
Accused Shahjahan Pyada said: “The government took our land but never paid us any compensation. That’s why I put up the fence on the road. I’ll arrange another path for people to walk through, but I won’t give up that spot for the road.”
Upazila land office officials said that if the bamboo fence is not removed from the government road within the set time, further action will be taken under the rules.
Local residents have demanded the fence be removed quickly to clear the government road of encroachment and ensure unimpeded passage for the public.