FROM PAGE 1

firewood has become a matter of survival. But for the island, this poses serious environmental risks, exposing it to the dangers of storm surges and erosion.

Although the LPG crisis was anticipated months ago, the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), responsible for managing the cluster villages for the refugees, could not make any alternative arrangements.

Between 2017 and 2019, a total of 120 cluster villages were built under a Tk 2,312-crore project for accommodating one lakh of the 10 lakh Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar. The first batch was transferred to the island in December 2020.

More than 7.5 lakh Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh in the months after August 2017 following the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign in Rakhine State. They joined several lakh others, who had escaped earlier waves of violence, in cramped camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Over four years since 2020, more than 8,000 refugee families were moved to the island from Cox’s Bazar, according to the office of RRRC.

Before their relocation, the government carried out afforestation drives on around 15,000 acres of the island between 2010 and 2014, according to project records.

Dense plantations, including coastal species like kewra, later spread across parts of the island, then known as Thengarchar. These trees provide more than just shade; they serve as primary natural defence against cyclones and storm surges. They stabilise soil and mitigate erosion.

RRRC documents show that 22.35 lakh trees were planted on the island over the six years after the Rohingyas arrived there in 2020.

RRRC officials and aid workers said that around 2.55 lakh trees have been cut down since the LPG crisis began in September last year.

According to the Forest Act of 1927, tree felling in the island’s forest is prohibited.

A CRISIS LONG IN THE MAKING

Since 2020, each Rohingya family received a 12-kg LPG cylinder at regular intervals, roughly every 36 days. The supply stopped in January this year after Islamic Relief Bangladesh, a non-governmental organisation, halted LPG distribution due to a fund crunch.

In a letter dated February 9, the Office of the RRRC informed the NGO Affairs Bureau that firewood collection from forest areas had increased amid the LPG crisis, and that the island’s limited coastal vegetation could be depleted rapidly.

Internal correspondence shows the crisis had been anticipated much earlier.

On August 12 last year, the RRRC office in Bhasan Char warned the Cox’s Bazar office of a looming LPG shortage.

In a letter, it said only 2,500 cylinders a month -- half the requirement of 5,000 cylinders -- were expected from August 2025 to June 2026 and that uninterrupted distribution would only be possible till August 26, 2025.

Two weeks later, the Cox’s Bazar office wrote to the NGO Affairs Bureau and asked it to take steps urgently, saying around 5,000 cylinders were needed for the refugees each month. On September 9, the bureau asked the organisations concerned to arrange LPG supply immediately. However, the problem remains unresolved.

Several staffers at Islamic Relief Bangladesh said the funding for LPG cylinders had come through Islamic Relief USA, a Virginia-based nonprofit organisation. But there was a fund crunch after US President Donald Trump halted foreign aid last year, affecting support streams tied to Islamic Relief USA.

Between January and June last year, around 3,500 cylinders were distributed among the refugees per month, which fell to about 3,000 between July and December.

They said it would require over Tk 8 crore a year to ensure uninterrupted LPG supply to 8,000 Rohingya families.

When contacted, RRRC Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said,

“There is actually no government fund for providing LPG cylinders to Rohingyas. The funds came from NGOs. The government did not spend any money.”

He further said his office does not have the means to arrange government funding.

Seeking anonymity, an Islamic Relief Bangladesh official posted at Bhasan Char said, “We are uncertain when funding can be arranged. The RRRC has contacted us but we are unable to give any assurance because funding comes from abroad.”

TREES FELLED ON A LARGE SCALE

During visits to multiple sites near refugee clusters, embankments and forest patches, this correspondent found ample evidence of tree cutting.

More than a hundred tree stumps were seen in six locations near Cluster 75, the Bhasan Char Multipurpose Complex and outside the main project boundary. Near the Ghat area, more than 108 trees were found stripped of branches.

Elsewhere, firewood lay drying on the rooftops of many shelters, while stacks of branches were piled in front of many houses. Some families stored branches in bags while others kept them beside cooking spaces or under makeshift covers to keep them dry.

To understand the scale of tree felling, this correspondent talked to more than 50 families.

Households with two to three members cut about two trees a month, compared with five trees for families of four to five members and seven for those with six to seven members.

Families with eight to nine members cut 10 trees, while those with 10 or more members cut 11 trees a month.

Ibrahim Khalil, wildlife and biodiversity conservation officer in Noakhali, said the risks from deforestation goes beyond ecology.

If tree cutting continues, the island’s inhabitants may be exposed to storm surges, erosion and temporary inundation, he said.