Dhaka-Mawa highway blockade ends

Residents of two unions of Keraniganj Upazila of Dhaka district have withdrawn from Dhaka-Mawa highway after blocking traffic on the busy highway for five hours. They lifted the road blockade on Wednesday after being assured that the government would not acquire land for a proposed army housing project. Thousands of residents of Tegharia and Konda unions had taken to the streets in the morning to protest against the project, bringing traffic to a halt. They lifted the blockade around 11:00am after assurance from Upazila Chairman Shaheen Ahmed. “No land will be acquired for the army. The army officers will announce it on Thursday. If they don’t we will launch tough agitation,” Ahmed said. The blockade had left hundreds of vehicles stranded on the highway. The agitating residents said the government had already acquired huge swathes of land for different projects. Now it was trying to acquire 353 acres of land for a housing project for the army. If the acquisition continues, the residents say they fear loss of their homesteads and farms. Finding no alternative, they were forced to take to streets, the locals said, according to bdnews24.com.