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Tk 100 crore forest industry equipment remain unused, getting damaged in Bagaihat

Depletion of reserved forests causes virtual closure of BFIDC

JASIM MAJUMDER, back from Bagaihat. Rangamati
Huge machinery including heavy vehicles worth about Tk 100 crore are being damaged on the premises of Bangladesh Forest Industry Development Corporation (BFIDC) office at Bagaihat Bazar under Bagaichhari upazila in hill district Rangamati due to negligence ofBFIDC officials.
The industry started its opera-
tion in 1963 based on a total of 3,59,140 acres of reserved forests in Bagaihat, Machalong , Shisok, Laxmichhari West, Laxmichhari East, Pablakltali and Naraichhari under Bagaichhari upazila in Rangamati hill district, BFIDC sources said.
But the BFIDC was declared closed in May 2005 as most of the reserve forests in this hilly areas lost trees due to rampant felling of trees by loggers in connivance
with the forest officials, sources said.
BFIDC continued their business in hilly areas with 1,200 appointed staff while around 5,000 people were indirectly engaged in the industry, sources said.
But due to gradual extinction of the reserve forests, the BFIDC office became virtually inoperative and only 10 staff are now working at Bagaihat BFIDC.
There are allegations that local
forest officials of all levels directly helped the loggers to destroy the forests in exchange of hefty sums of bribes.
The forest officials would hardly go to the forest areas for routine inspection and monitoring, although they received government fund for the purpose, sources said.
There arc over Tk 100 crore vehicles including four heavy cranes, five heavy knot, 12 bulldozers, one road garter, one Hino truck, two D4E truck, 40 heavy drums and huge machinery kept under the open sky at Bagaihat Bazar BFDIC office, said locals and BFIDC officials.
There are also five elephants that were once used to carry heavy logs from remote forests.
“We requested Kaptai BFIDC head office to take these valuable vehicles and machinery for saving these," Binoy Krisna Roy, a security guard of Bagaihat BFIDC said.
Ruhul Amin, assistant superintendent of BFIDC Bagaihat office, told The Daily Star correspondent that once they collected 20-30 lakh eft of wood per year but now the amount has reduced to around 1,000 eft as the reserve forests have greatly reduced.
Continuous jum cultivation is also responsible for closure of the BFIDC, he said.
The government decided to close the industry as there is no little work in absence of adequate trees in the reserve forests, Bagaihat Reserve Forest Ranger Delwar Hossen Khan said.