Land grabbers asked to vacate coastal Parabon forests

Trees being felled in Parabon forest in coastal Sonadia island to grab lands for shrimp cultivation. PHOTO: Star File Photo

Official sources said the Deputy Commissioner, acting on orders from higher authorities, asked the illegal occupants to leave the forestlands immediately or to face eviction and legal steps.

Simultaneously, announcements were made through loud speakers in the offshore upazila to vacate the lands, the sources said.

The administration order followed submission of a list of 15 land grabbers by Chittagong Coastal Forest Department on Monday.

The Daily Star on Tuesday published a report on indiscriminate land grabbing in the coastal area in the name of shrimp cultivation. The report said 12,000 out of 27,393 acres of land were grabbed in coastal areas of Cox's Bazar in recent years in the name of shrimp cultivation. Most of the alleged land grabbers are leaders of ruling parties and Union Parishads, the report said.

Forest department officials said land grabbing increased in the last four years while they played the role of onlookers as the grabbers were influential people. The forest department filed 458 cases against 1843 encroachers in last four years.

Courts at different times ordered recovery of 921 acres of land320 in Dhalghata, 200 in Charandwip, 10 in Matarbari, 350 in Siradia and 32 acres in Lamshikhali. But the matter virtually ended there.

Forest officials said Tk 11 crore was spent for creating the forests in newly accrued lands there.

With a view to saving the islands as well as Moheshkhali upazila from erosion, afforestation was launched in 1974 under the Coastal Afforestation Programme. Forests were created on some 5,000 acres. The islands under Kutubjome union were declared an Ecological Critical Zone.

Local environmentalists and journalists earlier staged demonstrations at different times demanding steps by the government to save the Parabon.