RAJUK: 126 acres of land in Purbachal vanish into thin air

Some 126 acres of land belonging to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) under the Purbachal New Town project have 'disappeared' mysteriously, though the authorities acquired the land at a cost of Tk 110 million.

An internal audit of RAJUK revealed the discrepancies, while the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) described it as irregularities.

The RAJUK acquired a total of 6213 acres of land for the Purbachal New Town project, but they currently own only 6,087 acres. The authorities failed to provide any reasonable explanation for the missing 126 acres of land.

The discrepancies came to light through the audit for the fiscal year 2018-19, and the OCAG later investigated the issue and submitted their findings in June this year.

According to OCAG officials, the RAJUK authorities did not provide any reasonable answers regarding the anomalies. The audit report and summon letter were issued to the secretary, but the concerned office did not provide any decisive answer regarding the issue.

Hence, the audit recommended administrative action against the officials involved in the land acquisition and occupation process.

Ujjal Mallik was the project director (PD) of the new town project during the audit. He, currently employed as the chief engineer of RAJUK, expressed disbelief at the discrepancies, saying, "What does it mean by less land? I was the 10th PD of the project. Have I occupied the land?"

The land acquired for the new town project has been allocated for various sectors, including residential plots, roads, water bodies, residential blocks, and educational institutions.

Of them, 2033.55 acres of land were allocated for residential plots, 1454.254 acres of land for roads, 460.940 acres for water bodies, 325.322 acres for residential blocks, and 270.369 for educational institutions.

Different amounts of land were allocated for other sectors. But no specific allocation was mentioned regarding the 300-feet road.

Ujjal Mallik said the 150 acres of land for the road were not considered in the audit. The auditors might have prepared the report without understanding the fact that the road covers 150 acres of land.

He also claimed to be unaware of the audit report. A total of 6227 acres of land were acquired for the project, while the master plan requires 6077 acres. The 150 acres of the 300-feet road should be added to the total amount.

Citing the progress report-2019, the OCAG mentioned that the amount of acquired land totaled 6213 acres, while 6087.355 acres were allocated for different sectors. The remaining 126.195 acres of land remain missing with no reasonable explanation.

Monirul Haque, the current project director, said the auditors did not raise objections based on on-site measurements, and they were not reported about any shortage of land. He also claimed that he was not aware of the audit objection.

The Purbachal New Town project, the largest ever housing project in the country, started in 1995 and was supposed to be completed in 2010. However, the project period was extended seven times, with the latest extension expected to end in December next year.

According to the audit report, the RAJUK spent Tk 5.42 billion on land acquisition for the project – Tk 873,501 for each acre. As per the rate, the price of the missing 126.155 acres of land stands at Tk 110 million.

Expressing concern over the irregularities, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman said it was a fraudulent corruption with public property. It is regrettable and unacceptable. There should be a thorough investigation into the issue, and the responsible individuals should be held accountable. If not, irregularities, corruption, and deception will continue.