​Suspended Mutation and Land Tax Fuel Long-Term Suffering in Khilkhet Tanpara

​Special Correspondent: Thousands of residents in Khilkhet Tanpara and its adjacent areas, located under the Joar Sahara Mouza near Nikunja-2 under Khilkhet Thana in the capital, are effectively stranded in a prolonged web of registration hurdles and administrative red tape. They are being continuously deprived of full ownership rights and legal benefits of their ancestral and valid properties.

​Despite an official gazette notification issued by the higher authorities of the government and the properties being final-recorded under private ownership in the latest Dhaka City Survey, the mutation process (e-Namjari) and collection of land development tax (Khajna) remain completely suspended in the area due to an invisible reason. Consequently, ordinary landowners are passing their days amid extreme uncertainty, financial losses, and psychological harassment, stripped of their fundamental civic right.

​Investigations reveal that the roots of this crisis date back to the Pakistan era. In 1961-62, the then government initiated the acquisition of vast lands in Joar Sahara Mouza under L.A. Case No. 138/61-62 for airport expansion and other public projects. However, the government never took physical possession of the lands in several areas, including Khilkhet Tanpara. Furthermore, the original owners were never paid any compensation following due legal procedures. As a result, the actual owners have been living on these lands for generations, constructing houses and other permanent infrastructures.

​Following independence, after a lengthy legal process, complex field-level surveys, and multifaceted legal reviews, the Ministry of Land issued a landmark gazette notification on June 22, 2017. Through this notification, 1385.28 acres of land were officially released back to the original private owners. Following government directives and conditions, hundreds of landowners deposited the designated compensation amounts back to the government treasury via bank challans at that time. Subsequently, they obtained Legal No-Objection Certificates (NOC) from the Acquisition Branch of the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office.

​Later, during the Dhaka Metropolitan Survey (City Survey) conducted by the Department of Land Records and Surveys, these lands were finally recorded and published under the names of the actual owners after rigorous scrutiny and approval by all relevant government departments.

​Administrative Stalemate and Social Toll
​Legally, once the City Survey is finalized, initiating the mutation and tax collection processes is mandatory. However, for nearly a decade, the local land administration has kept the e-mutation and land development tax collection entirely suspended in the Khilkhet Tanpara area, using an old technical error in the RS (Revisional Survey) records as a pretext.

​Being deprived of standard administrative land services, economic and social life in the area has come to a standstill. Due to the lack of updated legal land documents, ordinary citizens feel completely helpless despite owning ancestral properties. Currently, residents cannot sell their land to meet emergency medical expenses, nor can they secure commercial bank loans for their children’s higher education. Even the opportunities for formal property distribution among family members, executing gift deeds (Heba), or obtaining plan approvals from RAJUK to construct authorized multi-storied buildings have been stripped from them.

​Taking advantage of this prolonged administrative deadlock, several brokers, fraudulent cooperative societies, and middleman syndicates have become active in the area. Helpless residents are turning to these unscrupulous groups to reclaim their rights, only to become victims of fraud and lose crores of Taka.

​When asked about the situation, Jahid Ikbal, a veteran journalist and the Convener of the ‘Nikunja Tanpara Welfare Society,’ expressed deep resentment, saying: ​”The people of Khilkhet Tanpara are not protesting for any illegal or unreasonable demands. We only want our fundamental civic rights to be ensured based on our valid documents, the government’s own gazette, and the final City Survey records. If people cannot mutate their ancestral land or pay taxes in an independent country, it is not just administrative negligence, but a gross violation of human rights. The livelihoods of thousands of families are on the verge of ruin due to this complication. We hope the current government and the Ministry of Land will urgently investigate the matter in the public interest.”

​Demand for Immediate Intervention
​The specific demand of the residents is that ordinary citizens must no longer be harassed under the pretext of old and obsolete errors in the RS records. At the same time, once an NOC has been obtained from the DC office, no new bureaucratic complications should be created by demanding fresh clearance certificates from the Assistant Commissioner (Land) or AC Land office.

​Resuming the e-Namjari and land tax collection processes in the Khilkhet Tanpara area immediately—based on the 2017 government gazette and the latest City Survey—is the need of the hour.

​The suffering citizens have sought the urgent and direct intervention of high-level government authorities, the Land Secretary, and the Dhaka District Administration for a permanent solution to this long-pending humanitarian and legal crisis.