Published : 03 Sep 2026, 07:16 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:47 AM
Nearly four decades after around 25 kathas of land was set aside for a hospital in Dhaka’s Rupnagar Residential Project, no hospital has been built there.
The land was later split into three plots, two of which were allotted for hospitals.
The largest, a 15-katha plot or 0.10-hectare, is now under the control of Chandpur-2 MP Md Jalal Uddin, who no longer wants to build a hospital there.
In a letter to the National Housing Authority (NHA), the agency that implemented the project, Jalal said 15 kathas was “not enough” to build a hospital and sought permission to use the plot for commercial or residential purposes, arguing that several hospitals already operate nearby.
Although he wrote the letter as the authorised attorney for the plot, Jalal told bdnews24.com that he had “bought” the land.
“I didn’t take the land for a hospital. The person who had taken it for a hospital sold it to me. He never told me that a hospital had to be built there and nothing else could be done,” he said.
The NHA says the land was allotted specifically for a hospital. While the original allottee could transfer the plot, the new owner would still have to build a hospital.
On Jalal’s application, NHA Chairman Ferdousi Begum said anyone could make a request, but the authority would decide whether it was legally permissible.
“He took it to build a hospital. Now he thinks he will do something else. He can ask, but we will decide after checking whether it is allowed under the law,” she said.
Asked whether permission could be granted for another use, she said: “Certainly not if it goes against the law. It will not happen while I am here.”
One Plot Becomes Three
The Housing Authority says the government launched the Rupnagar Residential Project in the 1984-85 fiscal year through the then Department of Housing on a self-financed basis.
The roughly 101-acre project included 1,245 residential plots of different sizes, which were allotted through a lottery.
The original plan also had 39 commercial plots, later distributed through tenders.
Institutional plots were reserved for public facilities including a mosque, playground, community centre, health centre, school and shopping centre.
About 1.22 bighas, or nearly 25 kathas, or 0.17 hectares, was set aside for a health centre or hospital.
Following decisions by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council and an inter-ministerial body, the land was to be handed over to the health ministry free of charge.
Around 2000, the plot on Road 18 was split into three.
On Mar 5, 2001, the 15-katha plot was allotted to Rupnagar General Hospital, while another 4.57-katha, or 0.03-hectare, plot was allotted to the Society of Surgeons of Bangladesh for a hospital.
A third, 5-katha, or 0.03-hectare, plot was earmarked for a primary health centre under the city corporation.
The NHA knows who currently occupies the two hospital plots, but says it has “no information” about the third plot.
Following complaints from residents, the NHA’s Dhaka Division conducted a detailed investigation last May into the Rupnagar project’s lake, health centre, community centre, children’s park, playground and shopping centre.
The report also said the authority had no record of the allotment of one of the plots.
Workshop, Garage
The 15-katha plot allotted to Rupnagar General Hospital now houses a car workshop and a tin-roofed car wash centre.
A worker there said private cars and motorcycles are repaired and washed at the site and that the workshop has been operating there for years.
He did not know who had obtained the land or how.
The Society of Surgeons of Bangladesh’s plot has similarly been turned into a tin-roofed rickshaw garage, with rickshaws and battery-powered autorickshaws kept inside.
A local resident alleged that former councillor Tofazzal Hossain Tenu had occupied the plots and set up the facilities.
Tenu has been on the run since Aug 5, the resident said, but the facilities remain.
The NHA’s investigation report said the 15-katha plot was marked as a health centre in the original plan.
It was allotted to Rupnagar General Hospital Limited in 2001 and handed over in 2013.
Under the allotment conditions, construction was supposed to be completed within two years of registration in line with the approved plan and project. That did not happen.
The report said the other plot, handed over to the Society of Surgeons of Bangladesh in 2002, also had no hospital despite the same two-year construction requirement.
Md Manir Hossain Khan, society general secretary and Bangladesh Medical University professor, said they were working to build the hospital.
Asked why it had not been built in more than two decades, he blamed changes in committees and said steps were now being taken.
How the Plot Reached Jalal
The 15-katha plot was originally allotted to Iqbal Shahriar, managing director of General Hospital Limited.
The plot was handed over to him, registered and cleared of liability.
Shahriar later transferred it to Abdus Sattar through a registered deed with permission for the transfer.
In 2016, Sattar appointed Jalal Uddin as his registered attorney to conduct all activities concerning the plot.
Jalal, however, told bdnews24.com that he had bought the land from Shahriar around 2013-14.
“I’ve had the land for nearly 14 years. I can’t do anything with it and have left it unused. The government is not getting anything from it, and I’m also suffering,” he said.
When asked about the role of Sattar in the chain of ownership, Jalal replied: “Why are you so interested in this?”
He said he was currently abroad and would discuss the matter in person after returning to Bangladesh.
Why He Wants Commercial Use
In April, the NHA wrote to Jalal, as the “authorised attorney” for the plot, seeking an update on progress in building the hospital.
The letter said the plot was marked as a health centre in the plan and had been allotted in the name of “Rupnagar General Hospital”.
It also pointed out that the required construction had not been completed within two years of registration.
An investigation recommended removing the car wash and rickshaw garage from the site and taking steps to establish a hospital there.
In response, Jalal wrote to the NHA chairman in May on behalf of Sattar, seeking permission to use the plot as a residential or commercial property.
He argued that 15 kathas was not enough for a full-fledged hospital and claimed that at least eight bighas, or 1.07 hectares, was needed for one. He also said three or four hospitals already operated nearby, although his letter listed nine.
Jalal argued that converting the plot for commercial use would generate revenue for the government.
But he told bdnews24.com that he had previously asked the government for at least two bighas, or 0.27 hectares, of land so he could build a hospital.
“I asked them to give me at least two bighas for a hospital. Nothing has been done in 14 years, and the land has remained unused,” he said.
He also claimed that the authority had converted many other plots into residential or commercial properties.
NHA Deputy Assistant Engineer Md Johirul Islam said an allottee could sell the land to another person at the prescribed price, but whether the new owner could use it for something other than a hospital was a matter for the authority to decide.
Another Plot Becomes A College
The remaining 5-katha plot, which had been earmarked for a primary health centre under the city corporation, now houses Rajdhani Mohila College.
It stands beside Government Rupnagar Model School and College, which was already there.
The NHA’s investigation report said Rajdhani Mohila College had been built on the site, but the authority had no record of allotting the institutional plot to the college.
A college staff member Muraduzzaman Badal said the land was an institutional plot allotted to the institution.
But when told that the site had been earmarked for a hospital-related facility and that the NHA had no record of allotting it to the college, he said the college had been there since 2013-14 and that former local MP Aslamul Haque had arranged its allotment.
“I don’t know anything beyond that,” he said.
NHA officials declined to say how the college obtained the land, saying the authority had not allotted it and did not know what process had been followed.
Complaints Pile Up
Residents first complained in April 2021 to the secretary of the public works ministry, alleging that the hospital land had been split into three plots through collusion between corrupt housing officials.
They asked for the three allotments to be cancelled and the entire site to be used for a hospital. In August that year, the ministry instructed the NHA to take action.
Local residents raised the issue again after the fall of the government during the 2024 July Uprising, followed by another ministry letter in September asking the NHA to take action.
They also lodged repeated complaints directly and online, leading to several inspections and reports.
The NHA’s investigation last year found that around 17 acres, or 6.88 hectares, of the Rupnagar project’s lake or waterbody had been allotted to different associations, with a large part occupied by slum dwellers.
It also found that much of the 1.5-bigha area, or 0.20 hectares, reserved for a community centre and children’s park had been occupied by mosques and a madrasa, while other parts were enclosed by mosque committees.
The investigation further found that the playground and a park planned beside the lake did not exist.
In July 2024, RAJUK told the NHA that one of the hospital plots was being illegally used as an automobile garage, in violation of building laws, and asked the authority to remove the illegal structures.
Residents again wrote to the housing minister, ministry secretary and NHA chairman on May 9, calling for an end to what they described as the misuse of the hospital land.
Resident Rafiqul Islam said they had complained to government offices for years and received assurances, but Rupnagar residents still had no hospital.
“We want the matter resolved quickly,” he said.
Asked whether a lack of oversight was responsible, NHA Chairman Ferdousi said government offices often faced staff shortages and struggled to provide even regular services.
She said the person who received the land also had a responsibility to follow the law.
“The government cannot carry all the responsibility alone. The public also has to come forward. The person who took the land is a citizen of this country and must follow the law,” she added.
