279,096 acres of forest land grabbed

Different organisations and individuals have occupied 279,096 acres of forest land while the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation has no record on total ares grabbed in 50­­-60 years.

The information was disclosed at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of environment, forest and climate change held at the Parliament Bhaban on Saturday.

At the meeting, Jatiya Sangsad body chairman Saber Hossain Chowdhury asked BFIDC chairman Muhammed Ahsanul about the status of the land under the organisation, the meeting sources told New Age.

Responding to a question on the issue, Ahsanul said that the Forest Department had allocated a total of 43,095 acres of land against the BFIDC but at present the total land area was not in the possession of the authority.

He added that the authority also had no record as to how much of its land was in the possession of grabbers.

Saber later asked Ahsanul to make a list of the BFIDC land occupiers and to submit it to the committee within three months.

He also recommended the concerned authority to form a national taskforce to recover forest land.

At the meeting, chief conservator of forests Mohammed Shafiul Alam Chowdhury informed the JS body that the department allocated 160,032 acres of land to different organisations while 279,096 acres of forest land were occupied by various organisations and individuals.

At the meeting, environment, forest and climate change minister M Shahab Uddin said that some forest land areas have been occupied in his constituency for the last 50 to 60 years where people began to build homes and developed educational institutions.

Saber Chowdhury also asked the industrial ministry to take a decision on Karnaphuli Paper Mills as the committee in a previous meeting asked the concerned authority to cancel the lease of the land where the mills were situated as it  violated the condition outlined in the lease.

Responding to Saber, secretary of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury said that decision about the state-owned Karnaphuli Paper Mills involved the industrial ministry.

The minister said that the paper mills failed to accomplish bamboo harvesting and did not ensure proper management of land in the last few years which was a violation of the conditions outlined in the lease.

The forest department allocated 99 acres of land against Karnaphuli Paper Mills at Chandraghona, Chittagong in 1953, the minister said.

At the meeting, the JS body recommended the ministries and department concerned to stop allowing unauthorised forest activities as part of livelihoods in forest areas to prevent people from occupying land.

The committee also discussed forest land grabbing in Cox’s Bazar to provide shelter to the Rohingyas.

According to a Forest Department, Bangladesh had already lost forest resources of about Tk 1,800 crore for hosting the Rohingyas at Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas in Cox’s Bazar.

A report on the issue was submitted to the environment, forest and climate change ministry by the chief conservator of forests in March.

It estimated around Tk 456.08 crore loss for the disappearance of trees in 6,163.5 acres of hilly land area used to accommodate 30 makeshift camps and a total of Tk 1,400 crore in ecological damages.

It showed that 6,163.52 acres of forests, including, 4,136.02 acres of natural forests and 2027.50 acres planted forests on the hills were razed to build 2,12,607 makeshift shelters, 30 km roads, 8,524 water sources, playing grounds, offices, schools and other infrastructure for the Rohingyas at Ukhiya and Teknaf.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net