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Earth Filling in N'ganj Croplands, Wetlands

HC returns petition without verdict

Staff Correspondent
The long-pending writ petition, challenging the legality of earth filling in croplands and wetlands in six villages of Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj, has been sent back to the chief justice by a High Court bench yesterday.
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) submitted the petition in 2014, saying that Unique Properties Development Ltd, a private real estate developer, had filled up the area for establishing a housing project named Sonargaon Resort City.
The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das sent the petition to the chief justice saying that some questions are involved in this case and it should be further scrutinised and heard.
The HC bench, however, did not elaborate on the questions it was refer-ringto.
Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud, Advocate Quamrul Haque Siddique, Advocate Ahsanul Karim, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, among others, appeared for Unique Properties
Development Ltd and its sister concerns. The writ petitioner's lawyer Advocate Syeda Rizwana H asan told The Daily Star that Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, upon receiving the petition, will assign another HCbenchfor hearing and disposal of the case.
"An extensive hearing was held on the case at this High Court bench for one year since late 2016 till late last year; two contempt applications were filed and two organisations — Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority and private Sonargaon Economic Zone company -became parties to the case during this period," Syeda Rizwana said.
The case was awaiting verdict But now, the entire case and the contempt petitions are sent back unresolved, shesaid.
Bela in the petition said, in 2012, the Department of Environment (DoE) had imposed a 7k 50-lakh fine on Unique Properties Development Ltd for damaging the agricultural land and wetland.
The DoE also asked the company to remove the dumped soil from the area that the company had grabbed allegedly.
But since the firm did not comply with the DoE order, farmers in five moujas of Sonargaon upazila cannot grow crops in their land, it said.
Following the petition, the HC on March 2, 2014, directed Unique Properties Development Ltd to stop further filling up of land and to remove the dumped soil.
It also issued a rule upon the authorities concerned of the government and the firm to explain as to why the earth filling activities should not be declared illegal.
During the hearing on the rule on October 19 last year, Bela's lawyer and its Chief Executive Advocate Syeda Rizwana Hasan told the HC that Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) had illegally permitted the firm to fill up the land for establishing a hotel and resort, although BEZA has no right to do so.
The firm had halted the earth filling in the area following the HC order, said lawyers for the firm and its sister concerns. Several hundred acres of croplands have been damaged by sand filling in Sonargaon since the HC issued an injunction against sand filling in 2014, according to locals.
The HC, in response to a public interest litigation in March that year, banned destruction of ecologically-sensitive agricultural land, adjoining wetlands and ecology along the Meghna river in Jainpur, Chaihishya, Char Bhabnathpur, Bhatibanda, Pirojpur and Ratanpur moujas.