Moved by Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the government has cancelled the allotment of 700 acres of land in Cox's Bazar aimed to establish a public administration academy.
This land includes 400 acres of hilly terrain and is part of a protected forest area spanning over 2,000 acres, which is home to precious trees and wildlife.
In 2021, the ousted regime led by Sheikh Hasina allotted the environmentally critical area situated in Jhilanja Mouza of Cox's Bazar Sadar to the public administration ministry for establishing the academy named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The 700 acre land is a part of the 2,145.02-acre protected forest, which contains trees such as garjan, chapalish, telsur, and is inhabited by elephants, monkeys, wild boars, and other species. Reforestation activities were conducted in the forest in 2011-12 and 2012-13 to counter climate change effects.
The omission of "protected forest" in the records aiming to remove the legal barrier to accommodate the Bangabandhu academy, led the Forest Department file a case on this issue earlier.
A writ petition was also filed in the High Court (HC) to cancel the land allocation. The HC issued a stay order on the allocation, which the Appellate Division upheld.
Environmental rights activists and experts have long been protesting against the allegation by the Hasina government.
On August 29 2024, the environment advisor highlighted other authorities in a letter that the allocated area has been designated as protected forest under Section 29 of the Forest Act, 1927, since 1935, said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Monday.
Afterwards, co-ordination was sought from the Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner, who was instructed to take necessary action and submit a report to the Ministry of Land on this matter, according to an official letter dated November 10, signed by Aminur Rahman, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Land.
In 1999, Jhilanja Union was declared an environmentally critical area, banning activities like tree felling and altering the natural landscape. The 700-acre protected forest falls within this critical zone.
According to Article 18A of the Constitution and the UN Biodiversity Convention, the government is committed to forest conservation. With Bangladesh's forest cover below the required level, allocating such lands have been deemed against public interest.
[email protected]
