Unauthorized grabbing of Gazipur forest land going on recklessly

Sharif Ahmed Shamim from Gazipur

The sales amount of Bangladesh Building System (BBS) Ltd, located at Talihati area of Sripur upazila in Gazipur is more than 1,200 crore per year. This business organization had encroached 1.61 acres of reserved forest land in RS 2923, 2924 and 1295 of Telihati mouja in Satkhamair forest bit by cutting the tress of the forest area in 2017. The market price of that occupied land is now around Tk 2.5 crore. The forest department also couldn’t recover the land from the encroachment. Already, the administrative officer of the company Md. Hasnain alias Hasan constructed a market in front of the main gate of the factory by encroaching the forest land and is collecting Tk 30,000 per month from the market as rental fee.

On the other hand, the elite Bhawal Resort and Spa located at Naljani area of Gazipur Sadar earns monthly income of more than Tk of 1 crore. Villas at this resort are never empty in winter, summer and even during strike. During the construction phase 9 to 10 years ago, the company acquired 3.68 acres of land in Baripara Mauja SA CS 3, 279 and 271 of the reserved forest adjacent to Bhawal Resort. In this incident, the Forest Department filed an eviction case to the Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur to recover the land from the possession of Greentech Resort, but that land has not been recovered yet. In this way, more than two hundred and fifty companies are doing business of hundreds of millions of taka per year by constructing factories, farms, luxurious resorts, picnic and shooting spots in the reserved forest land of Gazipur.

These companies have been established by grabbing the forest land that is with the private land exerting personal influence and connivance of unscrupulous forest officials. Many of these establishments built in reserved forests or near the forests do not have permission from the Department of Environment. According to the forest department list, 12, 321 acres of forest land has been illegally occupied in Sripur, Kaliakair and Sadar upazilas of Gazipur. Out of this 174 companies or entities are in possession of 500 acres of land. Last April, the forest department and the district administration recovered only 8.79 acres of forest land in Sripur and Gazipur Sadar upazila during the eviction operation. The remaining land has been occupied as resorts, houses-shops, bazaars and agricultural lands. 23,000 people have occupied more than 10,000 acres of forest land by building private houses. Due to this, the environment and biodiversity of the area are under threat due to deforestation. However, the forest department has no effective initiative to prevent this invasion. Rather, forest land is being occupied anew by various means.

According to the information of Forest Department, RAK Ceramics grabbed four acres in Dhanua Mouja in Sripur, Rashowa Spinning Mill four acres, DBL Ceramics eight acres, Auto Spinning Mills 2.20 acres, Akand Garden 16 acres in Satkhamair Mouja, Rifat Bag 25th century, Trade Management Corporation 7 in Patka Mouja 64 acres, Kwa Mouzar Mita Textiles 2.20 acres, Meghna Composites 40 percentiles, Jobair Spinning one acre, Omega Sweaters one acre, Solar Ceramics 90 percentile, Eco Cotton 4.86 acres, Bhawal Industries two acres, Ontech Limited 4.94 acres, HowR U Textiles one acre, Aranyakutir 2.22 acres, Wisteria Textiles 5.33 acres, Paramount Textiles two acres, Apex Knit Composite 11.62 acres, Greatwall Ceramics 7.38 acres, DBL Group six acres in Tepirbari Mouza, Kunju in Telihati Mouza. Alif Auto Bricks occupied 70 percentiles, China Bangla Packaging one acre in Tepirbari Mauza, Prime Pharmaceuticals 76 percentiles, HS Agro one and a half acres, Rex Auto Bricks one acre 70 percentiles, Shishupally Plus 12 and a half acres in Tengra Mauza, Mom Poultry 70 percentiles and The Warbit Steel Building occupies two acres of forest land. CCDV grabbed five acres in Pelaid Mouja, Saitalia Zaman Poultry two acres, Mauna Mouja Mono Feed 2.25 acres, H Power Limited 33 percentiles, Home Design 1.22 acres besides BBS Cable, The Sweater, Eco Cotton Mills, Citycell Limited have also occupied forest land. .

According to the investigation, Partex Group is the most advanced in occupying forest land in Gazipur Sadar Upazila. Partex Cotton Limited owns 11.67 acres in plot numbers CS 254, 289, 294 and 300 in Bhawal National Park range of Sadar Upazila, Partex Holdings Limited owns 5.09 acres in plot numbers CS 208, 585, 208 and 586 of the same plot, Amber Denim Limited Prasad occupied 43 acres of forest land totaling 26.24 acres in plots RS 8 to 18 and 28 to 32. However, no official of Partex Group agreed to talk about these issues. Sun Power Ceramics Limited has occupied 6.57 acres of reserved forest land in CS 428 and 598 spots at Bokran Manipur Mauza in Manipur area. Eviction cases were filed in 2007, 2009 and 2013 to save these forest lands.

Regarding the encroachment of forest land, Sun Power's responsible officer Salim Bhuiya said, "The SA and RS records of the factory land are in our name. But the forest department is claiming that land for them only because of the name in the gazette. The factory is set up with foreign investment. An equal amount of land claimed by the forest department was proposed to be purchased elsewhere and afforested. But no response has been received in this regard yet.”

Phu-Wang Ceramics and Phu-Wang Food are in possession of 4.40 acres of reserved forest land at plot CS 598 in Bokran Manipur Mauza. In 2007, the Forest Department filed an eviction case at the Deputy Commissioner's office. But at that time the land has not been recovered due to the lawsuit filed. In this context, Rafiqul Islam, managing director of Fu-Wang Group, said, "There is no forest land to the name of our company."

Houses have been built and encroached on 15.05 acres of forest land at Plot No. CS 942 at Kaliakoi Sohag Palli Resort, Kalampur area of Chandra Bit, Rangamati Water Front and Chandra Shilpi Kunj, Cocola Food Products, Kouchakuri Mauza. To recover these forest lands, the Forest Department proposed an eviction case to the Deputy Commissioner on September 11, 2014. Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Abul Fateh Mohammad Shafiqul Islam told The Daily Kaler Kantho, "Thousands of acres of forest land have been encroached upon by individuals and business entities in Gazipur. The forest department filed an eviction case but the operation wasn’t proceed due to various reasons. No strong initiative has been taken by the forest department. The eviction operation has started from last April 17. 8.79 acres of forest land has been recovered in Sreepur and Sadar upazilas. The campaign will continue.”

Statement of Forest Department

Regarding the encroachment of forest land by BBS Cable, Sreepur Forest Range Officer Mokhlesur Rahman told The Kaler Kantho, “The new list of forest land encroachment made by the Forest Department also includes BBS Cables. A proposal has been made to the District Commissioner for eviction there. The land will be reclaimed by eviction soon.”

Regarding the encroachment of forest land, Dhaka Divisional Forest Officer Sazzadul Hossain said, “These lands were encroached long ago. There have been no new encroachments in the last few years. In the meantime, the forest department has reforested hundreds of bighas of land on its own initiative. Apart from that, a meeting was held with the district administration to recover the occupied land. A joint evacuation operation has also started. All the land will be recovered and afforested step by step.”

Dhaka Divisional Forest Officer of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department Sharmin Akhtar said, "Eviction cases have been proposed to the Deputy Commissioner to recover encroached forest land. According to the list, the removal process is going on. No one will be exempted.”

(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on April May 6 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)