The Cox’s Bazar district administration and the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) demolished more than 50 illegal structures in a joint eviction drive in Kolatoli on Saturday.
The drive aimed to clear encroachments along both sides of the main road at the Kolatoli intersection, a busy point where long-distance buses stop and hundreds of tourists get on and off every day.
Hundreds of structures, including bus counters, hotels, restaurants and shops, had reportedly been built along the road over the years, occupying around six acres of RHD land.
Bulldozers demolished the structures during the drive. From morning until noon, officials removed more than 50 structures from Kolatoli intersection to the district jail gate and back to Kolatoli.
In some cases, owners objected when officials moved to demolish their structures. Officials then gave them time to remove the structures themselves.
Some affected shop owners alleged that they had not been given sufficient time before the eviction drive and claimed that they had not been informed through prior public announcements.
One shopkeeper in Kolatoli said he had opened a small eatery only about a month ago after struggling to arrange the money to start the business.
“I even had to pawn gold ornaments belonging to my mother and sister to open the shop. I still couldn’t properly start the business. I sold goods worth less than Tk500 from morning until noon on Saturday, and then learned that the shop was going to be demolished,” he said.
“If the shop is demolished, I do not know how I will repay the money. My family depends on this income, and I have no other source of livelihood,” he said.
Tourism stakeholders, however, welcomed the eviction drive, saying that removing the structures would make movement easier for tourists and help reduce traffic congestion along the busy road.
Tourism entrepreneur Abul Bashar said illegal structures on both sides of the main road had long caused difficulties for tourists and created problems for tourism businesses.
“Tourists have suffered for a long time because of these structures. Now that the illegal structures are being removed, movement is becoming easier. We welcome the initiative,” he said.
The district administration said the eviction drive would gradually cover the approximately three-kilometre stretch of the main road from the bus terminal to Kolatoli intersection. The operation, which began in Kolatoli, will subsequently be extended toward Link Road.
Cox’s Bazar district administration executive magistrate Md Nazmul Hasan Naim said the district administration and the RHD were conducting the drive jointly.
“Under the provisions of the Highways Law, land extending 10 metres on both sides of the road is under the control of the Roads and Highways Department. The illegal structures built on that land are being removed,” he said.
He said the operation was also part of an initiative to develop a cleaner Cox’s Bazar city.
“More than 50 illegal structures were demolished from Kolatoli intersection to the district jail gate and back to Kolatoli between morning and noon on Saturday. The drive will continue in phases up to Link Road,” he said.
Cox’s Bazar RHD assistant engineer Abu Bakkar Siddique said structures built within 10 metres of a national highway’s right of way are considered illegal under the relevant law.
He said the authorities had already conducted public announcements and issued notices to inform and warn those concerned before the eviction drive.
Cox’s Bazar Life Report
Photo: Collected
