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Wetland Filling

Ministry goes soft on realtor

Slashes Tk 45 lakh off Tk 50 lakh fine

TAWFIQUE ALI
The environment ministry has mysteriously waived Tk 45 lakh from a penalty ofTk 50 lakh slapped on the developer of illegal housing scheme Ashiyan City for destroying nature.
In addition, it ordered the Department of Environment (DoE) for a speedy issuance of environmental clearance to the real-estate company.
The DoE fined the realtor, Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd, in November last year for destroying low-lying wetlands, flood plains, aquatic life and ecology on the capital's northeastern fringe.
But Mesbah ul Alam, environment secretary, as an appellate authority, in February set the penalty at Tk 5 lakh only.
Ashiyan City paid the paltry fine in February.
It, however, has not received the environmental clearance as its required documents are not up to date, sources said.
Mesbah said it was mentioned in his order on what ground the penalty was reduced. "We exempted the developer company having examined all the aspects."
But the order mentioned no reason behind the clemency, except saying the penalty was cut on “overall consideration”.
Investigation by an executive magistrate found that the realtor has ruined biodiversity and ecology by filling up low-lying wetlands including Ashkona-Kaola canal, croplands, and rural homesteads, according to documents obtained by The Daily Star.
Still the secretary ordered giving a primary site clearance to the land filling in the scheme.
According to findings of the Assistant Gommissioner (land) office concerned, Ashiyan has filled up and changed character of 230 acres of land without permission in Dakshinkhan and Barua moujas including nearly two acres of government land.
But the records of Dhaka district administration show Ashiyan owns only 43 acres at the proposed site and it has occupied 67 decimals of government land.
According to records, at least 33 affected locals have filed complaints with the DoE about Ashiyan’s earth-filling on their land.
Scores of men and women ofFIolan and Ashkona moujas gathered with complaints against Ashiyan of landgrabbing and destroying their homesteads and graveyard, fearful of eviction, on November 17 last year, the day DoE carried out its enforcementdrive.
Leading national dailies ran the news and photograph of a weeping woman explaining her plight to government officials.
Ashiyan Lands Development Ltd has neither environmental clearance nor approval from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) although both are mandatory for any housing scheme. As per the environment law, such a project falls under red category.
A deputy director of Rajuk's town planning section in August last year through a notice asked Ashiyan's Managing Director Nazrul Islam to stop illegal development of Ashiyan Gity and Ashiyan Shital Ghhaya and their advertisements on television and in newspapers.
The developer also defied a DoE notice to stop destruc-tion of wetlands and croplands in October last year, said DoE director Mohammad Munir Chowdhury. Floods have become frequent in the locality due to the filling up of adjoining floodplains.
Mridul Hasan, an executive engineer of Ashiyan, confessed before the DoE to illegally filling up wetlands and gave an undertaking to pay the penalty.
The DoE presented arguments to the ministerial appeal authority that the penalty was justified in light of environmental offences it has committed and that the appeal for exoneration was untenable.