The beautification of the much-awaited Dhaka Metro Rail’s station at Kazipara in Mirpur has been halted three days before its inauguration due to objections raised by the owner of a piece of land adjacent to the site.
The staircases of the station are entirely built on the footpath. On the footpath of East Kazipara, around one foot of space is left unused, reports bdnews24.com.
The workers of Italian-Thai Development Public Company, a contractor building Bangladesh’s first metro rail, went to the site on Sunday afternoon to tile free space, but landlord Md Nazrul Islam forced them to stop work.
One of the workers, Imrul Hasan, said they informed the contractor about the issue, but there was no instruction until evening.
Nazrul said he suffered losses due to the construction of the station, which occupied a piece of his land -- five inches wide and 20 feet long. “Only one foot is left and they tried to cast concrete there. Neither the company nor the government told me anything about it.”
Nazrul said state-owned Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd had sent him a letter three months ago, saying he would need to leave 10 feet of land for the government and get compensation as per the law.
“Now the metro rail is being inaugurated, but we haven’t received compensation. No one has contacted us.”
Nazrul runs a board shop next to the station. Its manager Fazle Rabbi said the construction of the rail line hurt business in the past five years.
He said no one would be able to move through the narrow space left in front of the shop.
DMTCL officials declined to comment on the matter.
