Kuakata beach cleansing drive finally begins

Owners hurriedly remove their illegal structures from Kuakata sea beach as Patuakhali district administration starts demolishing such structures on the beach yesterday. Photo: STAR

The local administration finally started demolishing the illegal structures on Kuakata sea beach, prompting owners of around 400 temporary set-ups remove the materials on the first day of the drive yesterday.
As a mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Md Saiful Islam accompanying Rapid Action Battalion and police reached Kuakata beach at about 11:00am, most of the owners of temporary illegal structures started removing those in a hurry. Men of the illegally built concrete structures also left the area.
At about 3:00pm, the mobile court started dismantling Sky Cottage, a hotel housed at an illegally constructed one-story building.
"We started operation to remove all the illegal structures from the beach as per a directive issued by the High Court," said Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Didare Alam Mohammad Maksud Chowdhury, also president of beach management committee.
"We will evict all the illegal structures within a very short time as per the notice," Patuakhali Deputy Commissioner (DC) Golam Md Hasibul Alam.
On September 27, Patuakhali DC office issued a notice to owners of all 225 concrete structures on the beach to remove the set-ups within seven working days but nobody complied with, said Md Shah Alam Sarder, additional deputy commissioner (ADC-Revenue) of Patuakhali.
Earlier a team led by the ADC identified as illegal 225 concrete structures spreading in the area from Khajura in the west to Cower Char in the east on the beach.
The High Court (HC) on June 2 this year directed the authorities concerned to immediately remove all structures from Kuakata sea beach and submit a report on the compliance within seven days, sources of Patuakhali district administration said.
It also asked them to take necessary steps to stop encroachment, earth filling and construction of structures on the beach.