Unused BR land

An area measuring 13,000 acres, a part of which is situated in prime locations, cannot be considered negligible in a land-scarce country like Bangladesh. The country's Railways Minister Md. Mazibul Hoque during the question-hour time informed parliament last Sunday that of the unused land  of the Bangladesh Railways (BR) measuring this size, a large portion has been illegally grabbed for residential or commercial use. And all these have happened within the knowledge of the BR authorities which, from time to time, have launched casual eviction drives. The reason for the lax drives is not difficult to understand.
The railways minister told parliament that actions were underway to recover the BR land from the unauthorised occupiers and use parts of it to accommodate five-star hotel-come-commercial buildings, motels, medical colleges, hospitals and shopping malls under the public- private partnership (PPP) initiative. The move is a laudable one. But there are reasons to be sceptical about its success because of the involvement of the vested interests in the management of the government lands. The BR has not been any exception. Grabbing a small piece of private land remains a difficult task since the owner concerned raises a hue and cry and instantly takes the grabbers to the court. But in the case of the publicly-owned lands, the situation is altogether different. The owning agencies are found to be indifferent, in most cases.
In fact, the land that had been acquired in the pre-partition days and thereafter for the BR was very much in excess of its requirement. During that period, getting land for the purpose of building physical infrastructures or any other structures was not a problem. But the supply of land is now very limited. Entrepreneurs are already finding it difficult to get land in suitable locations to set up industries or other establishments. Prospective foreign investors have been avoiding Bangladesh for non-availability of land. Even the government is having a tough time in acquiring land for special economic zones. The setting up of such zones is urgently needed to give space to investors from some specific countries.
The BR land located at different places may not be suitable for setting up one or two economic zones. But instead of allowing the valuable land to be under the occupation of unauthorised people, the BR should make its productive use for the benefit of its own and others. The PPP remains a viable concept provided the right kind of private entrepreneurs are selected. However, eviction of the grabbers should be a priority job for the BR. The prospective private partners under the PPP concept would like to see the land in question, which is supposed to be used as the BR's share in the equity, trouble-free and clean.