The authorities tweaked the land- acquisition playbook to speed up the implementation of key infrastructure projects.
The new approach includes LA work in support of the main infrastructure project, allowing the deputy commissioners to acquire lands and utility shifting, while the project officials complete other preparatory works to kickstart the construction.
But this sincere approach does not hold much of a promise, as DCs are taking more time than usual.
But the government mission to get the required land ready before starting infrastructure construction under separate projects did not succeed as overburdened DCs have no land-acquisition time-frame.
Among the government agencies, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) initiated four such LA projects since 2016. However, none of them could be completed to facilitate smooth road construction.
It has been found that 50 per cent of the land could not be acquired even after six years, according to sources.
Officials say land acquisition serves as supporting work for a main project, but this leg often crawls causing substantial time overruns of the infrastructural development.
They attribute the lengthy acquisition to a lack of timeframe for the local authorities who have to follow at least seven phases for acquiring lands.
The RHD project insiders said since the entire acquisition process depends on the deputy commissioner (DC) offices of respective areas, delays by DCs cause problems in starting physical work on time.
The RHD had to wait for months to hand over the land to the contractors who, by that time, were already selected.
"Similar to RHD, some other government agencies also took up land acquisition works under the banner of support projects, but hardly any of them were completed before the main projects began," said an engineer facing difficulties in starting construction work of a highway development project.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority has an LA project to support the construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway -- the first large-scale public-private partnership project. Due to delays, sources said the private partners have been proceeding with the work with whatever land was acquired.
Under the RHD, land acquisition progress for the Dhaka Bypass Road was only recorded at 46.65 per cent as of August, after land acquisition was initiated in 2016.
After beginning in 2020, the LA work for the Hatirpool-Rampura-Banasree PPP project was only 29.16 per cent complete.
The SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Highway development project faced delays for an uncertain period after awarding the construction work for half of its 209km stretch last February. Land acquisition recorded 64.80 per cent progress, almost five years after the project started.
The land acquisition project in support of the Faridpur-Bhanga-Barishal-Patuakhali highway project has achieved 49.90 per cent progress since it was initiated in 2018.
The FE talked to around a dozen project engineers, officials and deputy commissioners who are mainly responsible for overseeing the entire acquisition process and found that land acquisition is done after following at least seven phases.
As the DC offices are inadequately staffed compared to the number of development projects, they struggle to complete the work on time. Besides, any complaints or cases that arise regarding a piece of land take extra time to resolve, further delaying the process of land handover to the implementing agencies.
DC office sources acknowledged that almost all development projects-whether in road and rail sectors or for energy, ports and airport purposes-require lands. For them, this means acquisition tasks keep pouring in, overburdening their skeleton manpower.
However, RHD engineers argue that due to the absence of a specific timeframe for these LA projects, unnecessary waste of time often takes place at the local level, leading to setbacks for the main projects.
"It is even more frustrating when we see no progress after one and a half years of an LA project," said another engineer, who preferred not to be named.
According to the DC office, the seven to eight phases of LA procedures consist of the District Land Acquisition Committee approving the land after a survey when the DC offices are notified of a project being undertaken by any agency.
After joint verification is completed by all parties involved, a notice is issued in the locality to halt all sales and purchases of the land, allowing time for objections or dispute settlements.
Upon completing all stages, DC offices issue orders to estimate the land price and inform the project agency of the budget required for the land.
Finally, the DC offices distribute the land compensation to the landowners once the budgets for the lands are approved by the concerned ministry.
"There must be a set timeframe for all these steps whenever the DC office is informed of a development project. Instead, they let the entire process proceed in a casual manner," said another RHD engineer facing delays in starting a key project to widen an important highway.
During the contract signing ceremony under the SASEC project for the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway four-lane project, RHD organised a seminar with all stakeholders for the first time, including DCs and utility authorities.
The seminar was intended to better understand the land issues causing acquisition delays.
Even involving all the parties in the project initiation could not accelerate the acquisition process, according to a project official.
smunima@yahoo.com