HC stops project

The High Court yesterday directed Rajuk to stop its land development or financial work for a Purbachal housing project in Gazipur until it obtains clearance certificate from the Department of Environment.
In response to a petition, the court also issued a rule upon the authorities concerned to explain in four weeks why the layout plan of the Purbachal New Town Project at Borokau and Parabarth moujas under Kaliganj upazila of Gazipur should not be declared illegal, arbitrary and against the public interest.
In the rule, the court also asked the authorities of the government and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to explain why they should not be directed to protect and conserve the unique ecology, and forests, wetlands and cultivable land of the two areas.
The HC bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar came up with the order and rule after hearing a writ petition jointly filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) and six other rights organisations.
They filed the writ petition with the HC on Wednesday, saying that the Purbachal housing project has no environmental clearance certificate for earth filling and constructing structures in these places.
The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the government to stop the activities of the housing project, and declare it illegal.
Iqbal Kabir Lytton, a counsel for Bela, told The Daily Star that Rajuk had been filling earth and constructing structures on around 1,600 acres of land of the two moujas since 2010 although it had not collected clearance certificate from the Department of Environment.