Forest grabbers must be punished
Based on the recent report of a newspaper on the creation of an artificial lake to cultivate fish by submerging 2,500 acres of the Borohatia forest in Lohagara of Chattogram, the forest authorities became active and removed the dam built illegally in the reserved forest.
For this, we express our thanks to the authorities since there are a very few examples of action immediately following any media report.
We demand legal actions against the forest grabbers. A former lawmaker of Awami League from Chattogram-15 constituency was allegedly behind ‘the influential people
creating an artificial lake by submerging forest’.
He, however, claimed neither he nor any of his associates were responsible for grabbing the forest and building the dam.
Allegedly, influential people built this dam on the Sonakani in January 2021 and created an artificial lake by submerging about 2,500 acres of forest land in Chattogram.
The dam, which was 20 feet wide and 100 feet high, also hampered cultivation on 4,225 acres of land, destroyed thousands of trees of various species and damaged its biodiversity.
Thus, compensation must be collected from the former perpetrators for the damage caused by the dam.
Mentionable, the forest department has been able to remove the dam as Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin Nadwi is no more a lawmaker.
He contested the 7 January election on Awami League’s ticket and conceded defeat to the independent candidate.
Reportedly, the forest department filed two separate cases against 15 people, including the assistant personal secretary (APS), of the former lawmaker.
According to the report, APS Erfanul Karim was made the prime accused in the case and four others were also named in it while 10 people including two who are close to Erfanul Karim were named in another case.
Erfanul Karim is a member of the Chattogram Zila Parishad (Lohagara) and the Awami League’s Satkania upazila unit.
The forest department said about 500,000 trees of various species including gamari, segun, chikrashi and arjun died because of this artificial lake.
The submerged area was also a route for elephant movement and habitation of various species of animals.
The extent of destruction came to the fore after the water receded. Now, the atmosphere of the forest must be restored and the forest department must do it.
But the good news is a herd of wild elephants has been seen several days after the dam was removed. If the forest can be recovered, the area will turn into a sanctuary and habitation for elephants and other animals.
