Elite force Rapid Action Battalion is constructing a training centre, destroying a part of the reserve forest in Gazipur. To pave the way, the government in a gazette notification earlier this month cancelled declaration of the allocated 20 acre land.
Due to the sudden development, not only the forest but also the poor inhabitants, their age-old accommodation, education, property and assets have been threatened. RAB officials have allegedly been using forces to drive away the locals from the place.
When contacted, top officials of the district administration and the forest department responded reluctantly, and did not give any details. On the other hand, RAB brushed away the allegations of intimidation.
The Dhaka Tribune reporter visited the area, Porabari village, on Monday. It is around seven kilometres from Gazipur intersection, near the Porabari Bazar, and only a 5-minute walking distance from Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
It is green, verdant, peaceful village. A pond named “Botgachiar Pukur” is at the centre of the area. A lot of mango, banana, jackfruit, litchi, Shishu and eucalyptus trees were seen in the area.
The gazette issued on March 5 said: “According to the Forest Law of 1927, the land was declared as a reserve forest through gazette notifications of April 13, 1955 and November 15, 1984. To establish the permanent building of RAB force’s training school, the government decided to withdraw the declaration of this land.”
According to the gazette, the area is situated in Baupara Beat of Bhawal National Park Range. A total of 19.97 acres of land have been declared as non-classified area. The government officially declared it as a national park in 1973.
The RAB authorities have already started their work. They marked the area with pillars and hung four signboards that read: Entry prohibited; area selected for RAB force’s training school.
They also evacuated 27 landless families who had been living in the area for over 50 years. A non-government high school building and half of its playground also falls under the acquired area.
Signs of destruction were seen all over the area. Few dismantled mud-made houses were standing without roofs. Most of the landless families left the area on a short notice issued by the RAB personnel. Some of them are now staying in the adjacent area by making temporary houses.
Day labour Yunus Ali told this correspondent that some RAB personnel came to the area on January 3 this year, along with the local ward councillor Delwar Hossain.
“They gathered us in an open place and ordered us to leave the area immediately. We urged them to give us some time, and they gave only 15 days. But they came back before that and forced us to leave.”
While talking to Yunus, few other people gathered around a tea stall within a very short time. All of them were eager to say something about the sudden evacuation. Harun-or-Rashid, a tailor, said: “One day they [RAB members] came to my house and beat me up in front of my wife and children. They threatened me with dire consequences if I did not leave the area immediately.”
The non-government educational institute, Shah Sufi Fosi Uddin High School, was established in 1995. Around 650 students are studying there now. The school has two buildings – one is a two-storied one, and the other is single-storied.
There is a playground in front of the school. It is also used for Eid congregations where people from Baorait, Uttor Santra and Porabari villages gather every year.
But the one-storey building and half of the ground have fallen under RAB’s acquisition.
Headmaster Sanaullah Sarkar said: “The RAB authorities verbally told us that they will not acquire this land permanently. But few days ago, we wanted to cut a tree which the school authorities planted a couple of years back. We wanted to make some chairs and tables for the students but they [RAB] did not allow us to do it.”
“Now we are concerned about the existence of the school.”
Some 10 RAB personnel are now staying in the area in a house which was made by Abul Kalam Azad, former managing director of Bangladesh Tea Board.
He said: “I bought this land in 1978. When the forest department claimed it to be government property, I went to the court. The High Court gave the decision in my favour. Now I am waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision.”
Azad claimed that the RAB personnel went there all of a sudden and acquired his house without any notice. “I had a farm with 25 Australian cows. They untied those cows and scattered them all over the village. After searching, I found only five of them.”
Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman, director of RAB’s legal and media wing, said: “We wanted some land from the government to establish the school and they gave us this land. Ask them why they did so.”
About the intimidation by RAB personnel in the acquired area, he said: “We did not receive any such allegations.”
While talking to the Dhaka Tribune over phone, Chief Forest Conservator Yunus Ali first claimed that the area was not reserved forest, it is “acquired by the government.”
As the reporter read out the full gazette, he started stammering. He said: “As the government is satisfied with the RAB, it gave them permission.”
He declined to make any further comment on the issue.
Md Nurul Islam, the Gazipur deputy commissioner, said he and his office did not have anything to do with the issue. He came to know about it upon receiving a copy of the gazette notification.
Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, country representative for IUCN Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune: “This reserved forest has already been disturbed. It has already shrunk in size. Any permanent infrastructure is harmful here.”
The Border Guard Bangladesh authorities early last year took over 40 acres in Cox’s Bazar’s Rajarkul range and started developing it without prior permission from the forest department. Of the land, 36 acres fall within the purview of a reserve and the rest under a protected forest area.
Former environment and forest minister Hasan Mahmud termed the land allocation a special consideration of the government.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
