CHOUGACHHA, Jashore — Land office work in Jashore’s Chougachha upazila has been at a standstill for nearly two months because the assistant commissioner for land — locally known as the ACLand — has been on leave with no successor in post, residents and officials said.
The prolonged absence has held up mutations and other land services, brought municipal administration to a near halt and cut government revenue, with no word on when a new officer will arrive.
In the meantime, Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Farzana Islam has been handling the ACLand’s duties on top of her own, an arrangement officials acknowledge is straining her workload.
According to records at the ACLand office, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Tasneem Jahan was transferred on Dec. 18, 2025. Reshma Khatun joined the post on Feb. 15 this year but went on leave on March 9. No officer has joined since, leaving the post vacant for about 42 days.
With Islam taking on the extra responsibility, residents from the upazila’s 11 union land offices are arriving daily and leaving empty-handed.
Bithi Khatun, daughter of Shawkat Ali of Purapara village in Ward No. 11, Sukhpukuria Union; Akhtaruzzaman, son of Ilahi Bakshi of Nagarbarni village; and Moniruzzaman, son of Abdur Rashid of the same village, said they applied for mutations more than a month ago and have heard nothing from the land office.
Mafizur Rahman of Jagadishpur village said he applied for a mutation about a month and a half ago and still has no answer. “Without the mutation I cannot register my land, which is causing me serious problems,” he said.
Officials at the Chougachha sub-registry office and document writers said registrations have fallen because mutations are on hold, reducing government revenue collection.
An official at Chougachha Municipality said the assistant commissioner for land had also been serving as the municipal administrator. With her on leave for nearly two months and the UNO unable to take on additional municipal duties, all municipal work has come to a standstill.
“With no ACLand in Chougachha at present, I am performing the additional duties of assistant commissioner for land,” Islam said. “The land office is functioning, but managing both offices on my own is becoming difficult. Taking on the municipality on top of that is impossible for me.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report