Mirsarai forest land: 2 lakh saplings destroyed
Around two lakh saplings of forest land planted by the forest department have been destroyed by locals' buffalo herds in the sea-coast pastures adjacent to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar at Chattogram's Mirsarai upazila in the past week.
Abdul Gafur Mollah, range officer of Mirsarai coastal forest department, lodged a General Diary (GD) with Zorargonj Police Station against unnamed persons on August 25 in this connection.
In the GD, the forest official accused unnamed owners of letting buffaloes out in 400 hectares of forest land and destroying 2 lakh saplings.
Buffalo owner Nur Hossain admitted that the buffalo herds have destroyed the saplings.
However, Nur claimed that it was the forest department that seized control of the area where their buffaloes used to graze.
Abdur Rahman, divisional forest officer, said, "We have let the administration know that we need to handle this situation locally. If a local solution cannot be found, we will file a lawsuit against the buffalo owners."
"A coordination meeting has been scheduled as a result of this occurrence. Hopefully, we will find a solution during the meeting," said Mirsarai UNO Minhazur Rahman.
Mirsarai Economic Zone is an industrial zone currently under development in the upazila of Chattogram on the bank of the Bay of Bengal.
It is being developed on an area of 30,000 acres and is governed by Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority under the Bangladesh Economic Zone Act, 2010.
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