Officials of the Purbachal New Town Project say DNCC was allowed to use the land solely for planting trees. The city corporation has no authority to allocate any kind of permanent, temporary, or mobile shops under the pretext of tree planting. Therefore, the company was obstructed from proceeding.
Expressing surprise, RAJUK officials said they could not understand how another agency could allocate shops on RAJUK land. DNCC is also not making any statement on this matter now. Meanwhile, various vested interest groups are reportedly pressuring to allow shops to be set up there.
Additional project director Khandakar Md Wahid Sadiq told Prothom Alo that the permission given to the city corporation was limited and conditional—strictly for greening purposes, not for any permanent or commercial activities. When some individuals attempted to set up shops, they were stopped.
When asked about the approval for the food court, DNCC’s chief property officer Mohammad Shawkat Osman said that maintaining and greening the area involves costs, and from that reality came the idea of allowing a limited number of temporary food vendors. The approval was granted at the administrator’s discretion. Later, due to objections and controversy, the initiative was cancelled.
Former administrator Mohammad Ejaz said the food court plan was an experimental initiative as part of greening, coordinated between RAJUK and local government. The approval was given with a temporary arrangement in mind.
He added that within a week of the approval, allegations of irregularities and attempts to sell the allocations to others emerged, leading to the cancellation of the initiative.