Implement SC verdict on Jhilanja Mouza
At a time when experts are struggling to find an answer to the environmental degradation in Cox's Bazar and Teknaf caused by vast swathes of forests and hills being cut down to make facilities and cooking fuel for the Rohingya refugees, it is heartening to know the apex court of the country is equally worried about the ongoing trend of deforestation and defilement. In the full text of a verdict released recently, the Supreme Court has urged the government to "adhere to the policy of preservation of the ecological balance and protection of the natural resources of our country." In particular, it instructed the government to cancel leases of plots in Jhilanja Mouza, an Ecologically Critical Area in Cox's Bazar, and demolish the structures built there. It also ordered the authorities not to grant any further lease within Jhilanja or any other area classified as ECAs. "Certainly, this much we owe to our progeny," the verdict reads.
The Cox's Bazar beach was declared an Ecologically Critical Area on April 19, 1999. The Jhilanja case follows the leasing out of 55 plots in the mouza in the ensuing decade which was subsequently cancelled, and a High Court judgement on July 22, 2010 declared valid the government decision in this regard. The Supreme Court ruling puts the legal battle to rest. However, despite the commendable effort by the government to go through with the cancellation decision, we must point out to the origin of all this: why were the plots leased out in the first place? Why was the special status of the place not considered before allowing hotels, motels and other commercial structures to be built in the area? Why did no one bother to weigh the environmental cost of such irresponsible decisions?
The sloppiness that led to the case in the first place is also symptomatic of the disregard and neglect with which Ecologically Critical Areas are often treated, resulting in mindless deforestation and devastation. For a country with fast-depleting natural resources, we cannot afford to be careless. We urge the government to take the SC verdict on Jhilanja Mouza as a lesson in doing the right thing at the right moment. We also hope the SC directives will be implemented without any delay.
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