Chandpur court orders identification of road and footpath encroachers at Baburhat, report by November 12

A court in Chandpur has, on its own initiative, ordered legal action against encroachers who built illegal structures on land acquired by the Roads and Highways Department and on footpaths in the Baburhat area of Chandpur.

The order, signed by Chandpur Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Mujahidur Rahman, was directed to the executive engineer of the district roads division. Court nazir Fakhruddin Ahmed confirmed the information on Thursday.

Under the order, an on-site investigation must be carried out and a report identifying the illegal structures and the encroachers must be filed with the court by November 12. The report must include the encroachers’ names, addresses and full details.

The court order said illegal structures on land acquired by the Roads and Highways Department in the Baburhat area of Chandpur municipality had been evicted on August 24.

However, the order noted allegations that structures had again been built on roads division land and on public footpaths on the western side of the Chandpur-Matlab road next to Baburhat market.

In the important commercial area of Baburhat, the narrowed road is causing regular traffic congestion. The order said this is disrupting the normal movement of vehicles and pedestrians and increasing public suffering.

The order also said that re-occupying government land after eviction and blocking roads and footpaths could be a punishable offence in law.

In this situation, the court stressed the need to take necessary legal steps to keep government land free of encroachment and to ensure unhindered movement for vehicles and pedestrians.