Stop felling trees for dev projects
The High Court on Monday issued an injunction restraining the government from felling trees while implementing development projects in the forests and forest lands across the country for the next six months.
In response to a writ petition, the court also directed government authorities concerned to make a time-bound action plan for protecting the forests and forest lands, and submit the plan within six months.
The HC also issued a rule asking the respondents to explain in four weeks why their failure to protect forests and forest lands while implementing projects should not be declared illegal, and why they should not be directed to protect them.
Twenty government officials concerned, including secretaries to the ministries of cabinet division, Jatiya Sangsad, law, forest and environment, LGRD, roads, transport and bridges, youth and sports and energy and mineral resources, chief forest conservator, director general of department of environment, deputy commissioners of Gazipur, Manikganj and Cox's Bazar have been made respondents to the rule.
The implementation of government projects will not be disrupted following the HC directive, petitioner's lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan told The Daily Star.
The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil came up with the order and rule following the writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) seeking necessary order to protect the forests and forest lands.
In the petition, the organisation challenged the legality of conversion of forest and forest lands through cutting trees while implementing projects for establishing petroleum depot on 191.25 acres of land in Maheshkhali forest, a mini-stadium on 2.34 acres of forest land in Gazipur's Kapasia, and cutting trees while constructing Singair-Hemayetpur road in Manikganj.
During the hearing, Advocate Syeda Rizwana Hasan told the court that the cabinet division of government cancelled a bill on the tree protection law in 2016, saying that two to five times higher numbers of trees will be planted if the trees from forests and forest lands are cut while implementing development projects.
But the government has not planted any tree after cutting them in the forest and forest lands, she said.
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