Munshiganj's naturally developed Arial Beel is getting damaged by the notorious housing companies and commercial occupiers.

The biodiversity of the beel is on the way to destruction due to sand and soil filling in the name of housing, encroachment, and construction of structures by hanging numerous signboards in the name of housing. Although the government withdrew from the initiative to build an international airport in this beel, the self-interested occupiers did not stop their activities.

Ignoring the rules, these occupying syndicate members are swallowing up the fertile soil of Arial Beel by filling sand with illegal dredgers and drum trucks and selling it to various brickyards with hundreds of big trawlers.

Meanwhile, to prevent illegal encroachments, the High Court ordered to stop the filling of sand and soil, construction of structures, and encroachment in the name of housing in Arial Beel. On August 16, the High Court issued this order to the Munshiganj District Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Srinagar Upazila Executive Officer, and Director (Enforcement) of the Environment Department.

The High Court also directed to submit a complete report within three months along with a satellite aerial map of Arial Beel from 2010 to 2022. The High Court also mandates to ensure that no one can carry out landfilling, construction, and encroachment activities in Arial Beel.

Senior lawyer Monzil Morsed wrote a writ in this regard. In view of the writ, the court directed to take measures to protect the Arial Beel.

The beel with an area of ​​136 square kilometers, a class of real estate traders is filling canals, reservoirs, and ponds with agricultural and government-private land with dredgers and drum trucks. The occupiers have closed the mouths of many canals from all sides, including the connecting canal of the Padma River. As the water of Arial Beel cannot come through the surrounding canals, the fish and grain stocks of the beel are completely threatened.

Encroachers have built flashy illegal housing projects in the name of housing by filling agricultural land. Marine Group, Gulshan City, Batayan, Pushpadhara Properties Limited, Dharitri, Dakhinachal, Shantinivas, Baridhara Housing Company, Maitri Eco Village, Padma City Housing on various signboards in Sailab area. Arial Beell is a large piece of land between The Padma and Dhaleswari rivers belonging to Srinagar, Sirajdikhan of Munshiganj, Dohar, and Nawabganj upazila of Dhaka.

It is the largest and oldest beel in the central part of the country. Most areas of the Arial Beel are wet during the dry season and the bill holds considerable water.

Md. Mizanur Rahman, Munshiganj Branch Deputy Director, Department of Environment said, "We have not given permission for any housing project under the Arial Bill so far. Necessary action will be taken after finding out about the other occupants.”

It should be noted that in 2011, the government took the plan to build 'Bangabandhu International Airport' in Arial Beel. For this purpose, when the land acquisition process started, the people of Arial Beel started a movement against the government's plan for their ancestral land. They formed the 'Ariyal Beel Rokkha Committee' to protect the beel.

On January 31, 2011, thousands of farmers, including men and women, protested with sticks and blocked the Dhaka-Mawa highway and vandalized vehicles. A policeman lost his life in a clash with law enforcement agencies during the protest.

The government canceled the Bangabandhu International Airport construction project. At that time the peasants were clinging to the lands of their ancestral Arial Beel for several generations.

Now, in the name of housing and various companies, the interested parties are forcing those farmers to sell the land. A syndicate of brokers grabbed the farmers' land by showing their greed for a lot of money.

Some brokers are renting land from farmers and putting up signboards of various housing companies. Those who don't want to sell their land are being forced to sell their land by intimidating them and buying neighboring land. Some people's land is being encroached on by filling it with sand in the dark of night. The farmer's land is being lost.

In this way, the entire Arial Beel is going under the control of illegal occupiers. Along with this, the environment of natural reservoirs is facing disaster.

As per Natural Reservoir Conservation Act-2000, any government reservoir cannot be filled in any way. No person or organization shall stop or alter or attempt to alter the flow of water by constructing any structure, developing land, or excavating sand or silt in any public reservoir without the prior permission of the competent authority. Apart from this, if anyone wants to do any kind of housing project, they have to follow several rules and regulations. It includes- if a company wants to do a housing project then they should have at least 10 acres of land in their name. A trade license should be obtained from the Union Parishad. The approval of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works should be taken. An exemption certificate should be obtained from the district administration. A three-step clearance must be obtained from the Department of Environment. Any company can undertake a housing project subject to compliance with these regulations.

There were no such permits, no rule of thumb in the Arial Beel area among the occupiers. Some of them have just applied to the district administration. Nobody did anything till now.

Solaiman Hossain, Chairman of Hashara Union Parishad told Bangladesh Pratidin that the district administration has strict instructions regarding housing. No trade license can be given in this regard. If someone wants to take it, he has to show the exemption certificate according to the rules. So far he has not given any trade license to anyone. He also said that he did not give a trade license to any of the housing signboards he saw in Hashara.

Tajul Islam, Chairman of Srinagar Sadar Union Parishad said that no one has taken a trade license from him in the name of any housing project. He said that he has not given any trade license for the housing projects that have signboards in the Arial Beel area and within his union. All these are built illegally.

In this regard, Shirin Akhter, Clerk of the SA branch of the Deputy Commissioner's office, told reporters that several housing companies in the area under the Srinagar Upazila have applied for exemption certificates from the district administration; But nobody got it yet.

Meanwhile, multiple encroachers around Arial Beel have blocked the airport by strategy and are now looting soil from there and selling it to various brick kilns. The syndicate is looting the soil of Arial Bill day and night by loading the soil-bearing bulkhead.

District Commissioner Md. Abu Zafar Ripon told reporters, "I have just joined this district. I have already heard about the agricultural land being cut or filled for housing business in Arial Beel and as soon as I got to know about it, I instructed the concerned UNO to look into this matter. No one will be exempted in this regard. To build a housing project, all kinds of regulations must be followed. No one can do illegal housing business here or loot the soil of Arial Beel. I have also directed the Upazila administration to list the illegal housing projects. Accordingly, they have started working. Effective action will be taken against illegal housing projects very soon.”

@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on August 20 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.