Recovery of encroached forest land

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ONCE we had abundant natural resources such as forests, canals, lakes, wildlife etc. But much of these resources have been lost in the absence of strong, sincere, competent authorities to protect the same. The failure has put the country's ecological balance at risk.
One could easily see the destruction of the country's natural resources while crossing along the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. Unabated encroachment has almost destroyed the Bhawal Forest, popularly known as Bhawal Garh.
Although the Department of Forest has estimated that 9,792 acres of forest land in Gazipur is now in the hands of the encroachers, unofficial estimate puts the same at much higher level. The important thing is that the department has helped the encroachers, who include local thugs, industrialists and politically influential people, take hold on the valuable forest land.
Bhawal Forest was once famous for 'Sal' tree and having wildlife, including tigers, deers and bears. But it is found that the maximum portion of the 'Sal' forest along the highway has been encroached to construct industrial and commercial units, including poultry farms, beverage and textile industries and picnic spots.
The fact is that not only the Bhawal Forest, but also most forest lands of the country have been grabbed by unscrupulous people with the help of a section of forest officials. This has been committed with the help of corrupt local revenue, land and forest officials who forged the land records and other documents and thus helped destruction of natural resources of the country.
Immediate steps should be taken to detect the officials responsible for destruction of forest land.
Shahinur Rahman
Gazipur,
Dhaka