Clockwise from top left, an aerial view of Korail Slum; men set illegal gas connection to a stove at Sattola Slum while illegal water supply lines lie on a narrow road at Bhashantek Slum in the capital. The photos were taken on Tuesday.
Local political leaders with clouts in association with corrupt officials are minting money by renting out shanties in slums they illegally built on government land.
The tenants are mostly shelter less workers.
These influential elements also build and rent out shops in the slums besides using a few shanties as their family quarters.
There are allegations that they make money by illegally supplying water, electricity and gas to slums.
The unauthorized service providers collect water, gas and electricity bills at rates over twice the legal rates.
There are also allegations that the police share the illegal earnings.
The illegal service providers and shanty builders change as soon as the ruling party changes.
Unplanned development created the avenues for emergence of this beneficiary class, said TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman.
Abolishing this illegal business is not at all difficult if those in power want it, he said.
It is the duty of the government to provide the basic amenities to all the citizens including slum dwellers, Iftekhar said.
During visits to Karail Busti and Sat Tala Busti, two big slums at Mohakhali, New Age found individuals whose monthly earnings from renting out illegal shanties exceed Tk one lakh.
A less powerful local leader earn up to Tk 50,000 per month by renting out shanties in the two slums.
At least 22,000 families live in the Karail slum built on a sprawling 89-acre area belonging to state run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited.
Another 10,000 families live in the Sat Tala slum built on a 28-acre area belonging to the Institute of Public Health.
Influential elements also opened two big kitchen markets, both unauthorized, to cater to the slum dwellers.
One of the unmistakable beneficiaries, Moulana Sobhan,
Illegally sold 30 shanties each for Tk 50,000. He still owns 58 shanties, all rented out, each on a monthly rental of Tk 2,500.
He enjoyed complete immunity in all these illegal money making pursuits only because he is ruling Awami League religious affairs secretary for ward No 19, which comprises a part of Mohakhli.
Moulana Sobhn is also the president of s Karail slum development committee.
He uses two shanties as his family quarter.
Asked how could he sell the shanties illegally built on land belonging to the government, Sobhan said, ‘We sell only the shanties but not the land.’
For sales, he said, deeds are signed on non judicial stamps each of Tk 300.
All the families living in the two slums get piped gas supplies.
When asked Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd general manager Abdul Wadud said that the slum owners neither took permission from the utility in extending the gas supply connections nor do they pay it for the gas consumed.
For a single burner each shanty tenant has to pay Tk 600, and for a double burner — Tk 1,200 to the illegal service provider.
At least two syndicated illegal service providers, each comprising of 10 local ruling party men, collect Tk 60 lakh from the tenants each month.
They share the booty with Titas officials and the police.
Titas charges Tk 450 for a single burner and Tk 650 for a double burner.
Locals said that the Karail slum’s illegal gas supply business is controlled by of juba league president for ward No 19 Manzul Haque in association with local AL general secretary Selim Dhali, Shechhasebak League leader Momen and Shipan.
Manzul’s syndicate earns Tk 40 lakh per month from its illegal gas supplies to the slum tenants.
The illegal gas supplies to Sat Tala slum is controlled by a separate syndicate run by local Juba League leader Zakir Hossain, a close follower of AL general secretary for ward No 20 Md Aslam.
Zakir runs the syndicate with his followers Dulal, Almas, Yousuf and Pintu.
Juba League leader Manzul Haque said, ‘We spend 50 per cent of the collection on maintenance and the rest is taken by Titas middlemen Rafiq and Jamal.
Local ruling party elements also illegally supply electricity in the two slums.
They use six authorized lines and four unauthorized lines to provide power supply to the tenants of the Sat Tala slum.
For the power supply to the Karail slum another syndicate run by ruling party men use 13 unauthorized and seven authorized lines.
The syndicate for supplying electricity to Karail slum is run by Sechshabak League president for Ward No 19 Shipon , Sechchhashebak League activists Momen and Monir, and local BNP leader Alamgir, whose wife is a Sramik League activist.
The syndicate for supplying electricity to the Sat Tala slum is run by Juba League men Saidul, Jalal, Pinku and chhatra league men Babu and Modasser.
They charge Tk eight per unit from tenants using sub-meters.
A tenant using unauthorized line has to pay Tk 500 for a refrigerator and Tk 150 for one fan, Tk 150 for a light and Tk 200 for using a TV.
Apparel factory worker Kahinur Begum, a Karail slum tenant, said she pays Tk 300 for using a light and a fan only at night, which is more than twice the official bill.
Locals said that the Banani police station collects Tk seven lakh per month from the two slums’ illegal providers of gas, electricity and the drugs peddlers.
The monthly payment is made through the police station’s sub-inspector Kawsar Sultan.
The supply of electricity to the tenants of Kalyanpur Pora Bosti is controlled by three syndicates known as Siraj Moral and company, Amzad Hossain and company and Nannu Miah and company.
The three syndicates charge at the same rates the tenants of the Karail and Sat Tala slums have to pay.
Nannu said he and his associates took permission from DESCO to sell electricity to the tenants of Kalyanpur Pora Bosti.
Around 50 locally influential elements of Kalyanpur Pora Bosti own most of 3,000 shanties illegally raised on a 15-acre area at Kalyanpur belonging to the Housing and Building Research Institute.
A handful of others own a limited number of the shanties there.
Dushtha Shasthya Kendra, a health service NGO for the needy, persuaded Dhaka Wasa to supply water to the tenants of Karail, Sat Tala and Kalyanpur slums.
As Sobhan Road Bosti at Dhamalcoat, Bhashantek, gets no water supply from DWasa, Sramik League leader M Kamal and Juba League’s M Joynal and their associates illegally supply water there in lieu of money.
They run the illegal water supply business in collusion with Wasa officials, said locals.
Joynal said he took permission from Wasa for supplying water to the slum.
Underworld dons Pani Mizan and Balu Zahir pocket Tk 13 lakh per month by providing illegal water and electricity supplies to the main slum at Bhashantek.
Mizan and Zahir collect between Tk 150 to Tk 200 from each slum tenant every month.
Despite repeated efforts, they could not be reached by mobile phones.
There are allegations that the associates and relatives of local AL MP Ilias Mollah control the illegal gas, water and electricity supplies to four slums in Pallabi known as Mollar Busti, with over 1,600 shanties.
Md Elias Uddin Mollah said he knew nothing about illegal supplies.
Dhaka North City corporation’s commissioner for ward No 19 and local AL unit president Mafizur Rahman said, ‘We provide no shelter to illegal gas and electricity suppliers to the Karail slum.’
‘When several industries took illegal utility connections, how it could called wrong if the poor slum dwellers get the same benefit,’ he asked.
AL general secretary for ward No 20, comprising a part of Mohakhali, Md Aslam, denied the allegation that the illegal gas and electricity suppliers to Sat Tala slum was running the business using him as the shield.
Banani police station sub inspector Kawsar Sultan said he paid no visits to the Sat Tala slum in last two months and even did not know where the Karail slum was.
Banani police station officer in charge M Salauddin Khan and Bhashantek police station OC Nazrul Islam said that it was not a policing responsibility to snap illegal water, power and gas supply lines.
Titas general manager Abdul Wadud said he had no knowledge about any Titas official’s involvement with illegal business.
‘We snapped gas supply lines at Karail slum and we will do it again there,’ he said.
‘Following instructions from the we provided electricity supply connections to slums through associations who distribute and collect bills from other users, said DESCO managing director retired brigadier general Md Shahid Sarwar.
All the illegal water supply business would automatically close down by December when all the slums in the capital would be provided with water supply connections, said DWasa Md Taqsem A Khan.
Source: New Age
