The government is determined to recover about 2.6 lakh acres of land belonging to the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) illegally grabbed by over 1.6 lakh people across the country.
According to officials concerned, the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change have prepared a report on the grabbed land of the BFD with the detailed information about the landsharks. The report was submitted and discussed on February 7 at a meeting held at National Parliament.
As per the report, a total of 2,57,158.84 acres of land of the BFD have been occupied illegally by a total of 1,60,566 people at different times. Occupying these lands, the grabbers have built industries, factories, resorts, residential homes and educational institutions. Besides, a portion of grabbed forest land is also being used for agricultural purpose.
The report in its details said that of the total 2,57,158.84 acres of grabbed land of the BFD, 1,38,613 acres of reserve forests are grabbed by 88,215 people while the rest 1,18,545 acres of forest land (not reserve forest) are grabbed by 88,215 people.
The report reads that 299 of the illegal grabbers have built industries and factories by grabbing 1721 acres of forest land. Of them, 172 grabbers have built industries and factories on 820.34 acres of reserve forest and 127 other grabbers have built structures on other types of forest land.
According to the report, 556 of the grabbers have built baazars, cottages, resorts, educational institutions and other structures on 13,435.19 acres of grabbed forest land while 1,10,836 people have built residential abdes on 1,08,457.89 acres of grabbed forest land.
Besides, 1,33,543.67 acres of the land of the BFD have been grabbed by 43,875 people for the purposes of agriculture, gardening and salt farming.
Lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury, the President of the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said that they had received a report with complete information about grabbed land of the Forest Department and about the grabbers as well.
The report also have made some recommendations on how these land could be freed and actions could be taken against the grabbers, he added.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury also said, “The ministry, with the help of the parliamentary committee, has already started taking action to free the land and punitive measures against the grabbers. About 500 acres of land has already been recovered from the grabbers."
“Besides, all the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the districts concerned have been issued letters for the purpose of recovering the forest land. We are hopeful that a large portion of the grabbed forest land would be freed within the current tenure of the present government”, he said.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury also put emphasis on the inter-ministerial co-ordination so that the grabbed forest land could be recovered and no more land of the forest could be grabbed by anybody.
He further said that they had sought help from the Ministry of Land to recover the grabbed forest land and Land secretaries had also been requested to join the next meeting of the committee.
“The Ministry of Land has assured help in this regard and both the Ministry of Forests and Land have agreed to work as a joint working group in this regard”, he said.
Officials concerned said that In order to free the grabbed forest land, the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has recommended for a plan of action.
