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Several hundred people affected by the ongoing Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal development project are passing days in despair as they do not know whether the government will properly compensate them.
   ‘I have a small piece of land on the bank of Begunbari canal, but the government has acquired my land for the project, putting my family into despair,’ Akiluddin, an 80-year old man of South Kunipara in Begunbari area, said in a saddened voice.
   ‘I do not know where I will go with my family if we are evicted from my land. Besides, the government is yet to decide how the affected people will be rehabilitated,’ he said.
   Faruk Ahmed, another affected resident, said, ‘I am totally upset as my five decimals of land have fallen in the project area.’
   ‘The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has fixed only Tk 1 lakh for each decimal of land but nobody of us has yet to take the money as the amount is very small. Besides, we did not get specific pledges for our rehabilitation,’ Faruk said.
   He also claimed that his land could have been saved from inclusion in the project area if he gave bribe to the survey officials of Dhaka deputy commissioner’s office.
   ‘The survey official sought a handsome amount of money in exchange for keeping my land out of the project area. As I did not give the bribe, my land has been included in the project area,’ Ahmed said.
   There are many people along the project area who have managed to keep their land out of the project area by giving bribe to the survey officials, he alleged.
   Abdur Rab, general secretary of Bastu Bhita Sangrakkhan O Unnayan Committee, an association of the project-affected people, said, ‘We have met the prime minister thrice and the prime minister assured us that the project would be implemented in such a way so that loss can be minimised.
   ‘The prime minister also assured us that the affected people would be given sufficient compensation,’ he said.
   ‘But we are yet to see the reflection of the assurance made by the prime minister. The Rajuk officials last week gave an announcement on PA system that they would soon start demolishing all the structures in the project area,’ he said.
   ‘Although the government is speaking of constructing an apartment building having 120 flats near the project area for rehabilitating the affected people, we do not know who will get flats and what is the procedure of getting them,’ Rab said.
   ‘We came to know from sources concerned that only 60 out of 120 flats will be given to the affected people and the rest will be sold to bear the cost of construction of the building.’
   ‘How will the government rehabilitate all the affected people by providing only 60 flats?’ he posed a question.
   He also observed that keeping some 40 acres of land out of the project area by changing the project layout could save the houses of several hundred affected people.
   The Executive Committee of National Economic Council in October, 2007, approved the Hatirjheel project involving Tk 1,480.98 crore. Under the project, a ring road is to be constructed surrounding the canal.
   Later, an additional Tk 420 crore was allocated at the end of 2008 for land acquisition, raising the total project cost to Tk 1,893 crore.
   The Special Works Organisation (Army Engineering Corps), RAJUK, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authorities and Local Government and Engineering Department are jointly implementing the project.
   The main objective of the project is to drain out stagnant water from the city quickly during rainy season.

The Khulna City Corporation has already demolished illegal structures on 25 canals and rivers aiming to resolve water-logging problem during the rainy season.
   Eight of the canals are Nirala canal, Narkelbaria canal, Harintana canal, Mistripara canal, Bastuhara canal, Haborer canal, Nabinagar canal and Bil Pabla canal. Illegal structures, built on the River Mayur, River Matiyakhali, River Joykhali and River Khude, were also demolished during the drive, RCC sources said.
   The authorities concerned launched the drive to demolish illegal structures on 22 big canals and 28 small canals in and around the city to ease water-logging problem in the city during the rainy season.
   Some city dwellers alleged that a section of people again encroached on the canals where the city corporation carried out its demolition drive recently due to lack of monitoring.
   Local residents also alleged that some influential people were grabbing the canals gradually and building makeshift houses there. The team did not demolish all the illegal structures on the canals, they added.
   A member of the demolition committee said all the illegal structures couldn’t be demolished during the drive.
   Talking to New Age, Ajmal Ahmed Tapan, panel mayor-1 and convener of the committee, said they came to know that grabbers reoccupied parts of the canals again at a few places. They would take immediate steps to pull down all the illegal structures, he added.

Green activists and students on Friday called on the government to seek reparation from the developed countries at UN Convention on Climate Change scheduled to be held in Copenhagen in December.
   The developed nations are responsible for climate change which is causing huge economic loss to Bangladesh and other third world countries, they said and urged the government to seek compensation from them.
   The demand came at a human change programme organised by the Youth in Action on Climate, a combine of youth organisations, in front of the Teachers-Students Centre of Dhaka University.
   Several hundred students from different educational institutions participate in the human chain and called on the government to raise voice against climate change at the ensuing Copenhagen meet.
   The speakers suggested that the Bangladesh should create pressure on the developed countries to help the 3rd world countries recover the economic damages caused by climate change.
   They said Bangladesh is vulnerable to natural disasters as the country faced 93 big natural disasters from 1980 to 2000 and its economic structure has been damaged due to the calamities.
   They said the developed countries are mainly responsible for climate change because of their massive industrialisation and that they must compensate for the loss facing the 3rd world countries.
   Shotifuzzaman Shorif, coordinator of the YAC, Hafizur Rahman Karjon, assistant professor of law department of Dhaka University, Alamgir Kabir, convener of Green Voice addressed the rally.

Tempo workers continued their strike in the Barisal city for the second consecutive day on Friday in protest at introduction of city minibus service on Thursday.
   The tempo strike caused sufferings to many city dwellers. Cashing in on the strike, rickshaw-pullers were also charging extra fares, ignoring the fare chart announced by the Barisal City Corporation, local residents said.
   Tempo Sramik Union president Shahjahan Howlader and its secretary Kamal Hossain said they would continue the tempo strike unless the minibus service was stopped.
   They also demanded immediate release of tempo workers and withdrawal of cases filed against them.
   Anwar Hossain, acting officer-in-charge of the Kotwali police station, said two cases were filed against some tempo workers and owners under the speedy trial act on Thursday night.
   Hiron Ahmed Liton, secretary of auto-rickshaw owners’ association, filed a case for ransacking four auto-rickshaws and the office of the association while Suleiman Bhuiyan, driver of a city minibus, lodged another case for damaging his vehicle.
   The arrested — Salam, Noman, Halim, Nasir, Muhammad Ali, Lutfor and Chhota Kamal — were sent to jail on Friday, the OC said, adding that they were trying to arrest other accused.
   Barisal mayor Shawkat Hossain Hiron vowed to continue with the minibus service and asked the local administration to ensure safety and security of passengers as well as vehicles.
   A coalition of conscious citizens under the banner of ‘Amra Barisaler Sachetan Nagorikbrinda’ would hold a meeting in front of Ashwani Kumar Hall today aiming to ensure smooth minibus service. They said minibus service had been launched to facilitate the journey of the city dwellers.
   They also demanded arrest of and punishment for the attackers and immediate implementation of rickshaw fare chart.
   The long-awaited minibus service was launched by the Barisal City Corporation but disrupted within two hours of its inauguration as agitated tempo workers went on the rampage protesting at the introduction of the service.
   The police arrested seven tempo workers and resorted to baton charge to calm them down after more than eight people were injured and several buses, auto-rickshaws and roadside offices damaged in attack by tempo workers on Thursday.

The Rajshahi City Corporation is implementing a Tk 109 crore uplift project to attain economic prosperity and alleviate poverty in the metropolis.
   Officials concerned told the news agency on Friday that RCC is implementing the four-year project titled Secondary Town Integrated Flood Protection Phase-2.
   Asian Development Bank and OPEC are providing financial supports for implementing the project, said RCC’s superintendent engineer Ashraful Haque.
   He said large and open unlined drainage outfalls will be constructed along with improving the existing drains in low-lying urban areas. The drainage infrastructure would remove polluted storm water, he added.
   The project will focus on improving the living of the poor, particularly in the slum areas.
   Ashraf said the project will further strengthen the women's active participation in the municipal management and services as both beneficiaries and agents through the urban governance reforms.
   He said it will also help support the gender and development activities. Road improvement works for small stretches connecting slums and solid waste disposal facilities are also included in respective sub-components of the project.

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion arrested 21 people on charge of gambling and seized 21 handsets and Tk 1 lakh in cash from their possession in the Sylhet city early Thursday.
   The arrested were identified as Badrul Karim, Zakaria, Ansar Ali, Shahed Alam, Al-Amin, Jilu Miah, Abdur Rahman, Abdul Jalil, Jamal, Habib, Shanur Miah, Delwar Ahmed, Suhel Rana, Tarik Uddin, Humayun Kabir Shahin, Newaz Ahmed, Kalam Rahid, Takbir Ali, Rafiul Islam, Abed Ali and Mohammed Mubin.
   RAB sources said a team of the elite force raided the Sylhet Metropolitan Club on Nayasarak at about 1:00am and arrested the 21 people on charge of gambling.
   The law enforcers also seized Tk 105,000 in cash and 21 handsets from their possession apart from three motorcycles that were parked in front of the club.
   The arrested along with seized money and goods were handed over to the Kotwali police. A case was also filed with the police station in this regard.
   The police produced the arrested before the judicial magistrate’s court at noon. But the court asked them to appear before the court in next working day to pray for bail in the case, court sources said.

Moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at many places over Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions and at a few places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over the country in next 24 hours till 6pm today.
   Day temperature may rise slightly over the country, Met Office said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 7:19pm and rises tomorrow at 6:39am.
   Country’s highest temperature 34.0 degrees Celsius was recorded on Friday at Srimangal and lowest 24.0 degrees at Rangamati.