The government implements various development projects by violating human rights and environmental guidelines and through limitless irregularities and corruption, speakers told a programme in the city on Saturday.
In setting up the Matarbari coal-fired power plant, the government is not considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like health and welfare, reasonable and pollution- free fuel, decent job, economic progress and inclusive industrialisation, they viewed.
Terming the development 'fraudulence ', they said development has become a menace to people.
People are forcibly displaced from their homes, made landless and jobless, deprived of the compensation, implicated in false cases, made victims of water logging , and the environment and natural resources are pushed into threat, which the authorities ignore.
They demanded that international legal instruments on environment be applied against the investors of those devastating projects and the civil society and other environmental rights groups be engaged.
The state is not responsible alone as many parties are involved in such kind of mega projects.
Their observations came at a public dialogue on 'Development Strategy and Crisis of Life and Nature: Presentation of Fact Finding' at the Daily Star conference room.
A civic platform named 'Prokriti Surokkha Mancha' organised the event.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman was present as the chief guest.
Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua moderated the discussion while environmental governance and climate change expert M Zakir Hossain Khan presented the fact finding report on Matarbari coal- fired power plant.
Another presentation was made on Kalapara coal-fired power plant in Patuakhali and other development projects in three unions there.
A number of victims from Khulna, Patuakhali, Matarbari, Rajshahi and Narayanganj shared their experiences and sufferings due to implementation of various development projects.
In his presentation, Mr Zakir said 2,626 acres of land have been acquired for Matarbari power plant but another 5,000 acres of land where local people used to cultivate prawn, crab and salt are being destroyed.
Of the total 2,156 land owners, 94 families have been evicted and 20,534 families made unemployed.
Of the over 20,000 jobless families, 9,929 are salt farmers, 7,290 prawn cultivators and 3,000 are fishermen. About 10,000 people were forced to migrate.
Mr Zakir also said only 40 percent directly affected people got compensation at market rate although they were pledged three times higher payment.
Although three years have passed, most of the families have not been rehabilitated. Iftekharuzzaman said development has become fraudulence-based, lacking farsightedness, and depriving people of their rights.
In the present context, the first priority should be to compensate and rehabilitate the displaced locals and give back their economic opportunities, he added. He noted that the legal framework has become much stronger globally; specifically there are many international laws which prevent destruction of environment.
Besides, Bangladeshi rights groups can lobby to the investing companies and those countries which provide loan regarding the environmental degradation and human rights violation aspects.
ActionAid country representative Farah Kabir said the government is focusing more on SDG, growth and development.
If even 4,000 families are left behind, the SDG goal achievement will be at stake, she added.
"Those who prepare this kind of development plans must be motivated by money, corruption and vested interest groups. We have to make those countries accountable that fund these projects or work as lobbyists," she said.
ALRD executive director Shamsul Huda said there are many loopholes in the land acquisition laws.
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