Environment or development?

All of us living in the city would certainly find it hard to forget the onslaught of the incessant rain of this summer and the massive flooding and prolonged water-logging of the otherwise protected city. And people living here know full well why Dhaka is subjected to flooding with an ever-increasing severity every year. Newspaper reports have now and again pointed fingers at these offenders, who have embarked on gigantic "development works" around the city filling up all existing low-lying lands mostly earmarked in the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) or the Master Plan as flood plains.

Newspaper reports could not, however, stop these rich and influential developers from plundering the flood plains and exposing millions to severe flooding. In many cases of environmental violations, different environmental groups and NGOs, supported by a strong civil society, have sought justice from the highest courts of Bangladesh. In the forefront of these NGOs are Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST), Bangladesh Environment Movement or BAPA, Nijera Kori, Ain-O-Salish Kendra, Society for Enforcement of Human Rights (SEHR), Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD), Forum of Environmental Journalists in Bangladesh (FEJB), and the Save Environment Movement.

One of the most notable cases was that involving Madhumati Model Town in Amin Bazar area. The developer had defied all official orders and continued filling up 350 acres of designated flood plains on the outskirts of the city. On August 15, 2004, BELA moved a petition against the filling up and obtained a stay order on all activities of the developer. The high court also directed the company to refrain from advertising the project in any way. The case is now on trial.

Obviously, the NGO activity against the environment plunderers was not welcomed by many, including some of the top members of the ruling party and administration, who are allegedly direct or indirect beneficiaries of these mega-projects, involving thousands of crores of taka.

In December 2003, a series of violent incidents in the remote shoals of the Meghna river in Noakhali shook the nation. As reports started to pour in, it was first conceived that the 300,000 people, mostly landless peasants, in these remote shoals or char land have risen to challenge the bandits, who have long exploited them with iron fists and deprived them of the vast natural resources. But soon the facts emerged. The systematic killing of nearly 40 alleged robbers had nothing or little to do with a popular uprising. It was the local political leaders and vested quarters operating from the capital who allegedly instigated the killing in the name of cleansing the char lands of robbers. It soon became clear why the elite city dwellers had eyed the char lands of such a remote part of the country. The area promised a huge prospect in shrimp cultivation. In May 2003, without any assessment on social or environmental impact, the government had declared 11,955.59 acres of char land in Noakhali as shrimp cultivation zone. As soon as the declaration was made public, influential quarters rushed to evict the landless peasants and grab the land to establish shrimp cultivation compartments. The nation watched as hundreds of landless families, who had long lived in those chars were evicted.

Just in those distressed days of the peasants of Noakhali chars, six Dhaka-based NGOs -- BELA, SEHR, Nijera Kori, Ain-O-Salish Kendra, BLAST, and ALRD -- moved to the high court and sought justice for the landless. The high court immediately recognised the rights of the landless and asked the government not to evict any peasants until they were fully rehabilitated. The case is also under trial.

It is not the end. When the Land Ministry launched a project last year to build "an ideal village" in the middle of the Sudarbans reserved forest to provide homes to landless people of the area, to the dismay of the Land Ministry, BELA moved to court and obtained a stay order on the project. The case too remains under trial.

Most recently, the State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Division AKM Mosharraf Hossain, in an interview with a television channel blasted the NGOs, particularly BELA, for hampering development works. He later told The Daily Star that BELA was hampering installation of a 2.5 kilometers long gas pipeline in the Lauachhara national park in Maulavibazar.

"There is a railway track and a highway going through the national park and one kilometer of the pipeline would be constructed along the railway track while 1.5 kilometers of the line would be constructed in the forest," said Mosharraf. He added that the alternative route for the line would be 23 kilometers around the forest, which would cost more than Tk 20 crore.

BELA, along with CFSD and FEJB, appealed to the Prime Minister on September 22 this year for protecting the national park.

It may be mentioned here that the Lauachhara National Park is an extremely rich ecosystem that reportedly sustains at least 167 high value plant species, four species of amphibians, six species of reptiles, 246 species of birds and 20 species of mammals.

It was recently reported in a section of the media that the government has initiated an investigation against some NGOs, including BELA, after the Planning Commission expressed its concern over some "development works" which have been rendered idle due to legal intervention, although it must be said that a Daily Star investigation did not uncover any substance to the reports.

Nevertheless, while the vested groups keep supporting the so called "development works" that are highly detrimental to our life and environment, the government would be wise to keep in mind that there are always people who would carry the flag of environmental concerns. The attempted suppression of such voices might trigger a boomerang.

The author is Special Correspondent for The Daily Star.