Patuakhali Forest Department has prepared a list of 383 grabbers who have occupied 329.60 acres of land by destroying the forest in Kuakata of the district.

The forest department has sent a letter to Patuakhali district administration asking for help in rescuing the forest land, our Patuakhali correspondent reports, quoting a forest official.

Patuakhali Divisional Forest Officer Md Aminul Islam today said a letter signed by him was sent to the deputy commissioner of Patuakhali on November 25 last year in order to evict the forest grabbers of Latachapali and Gangamati mouzas.

They also sent a list of the alleged 383 land grabbers and sketch maps to the DC office, said the official.

The forest department made the list after they received instructions from the parliamentary committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, sources at the forest department said.

The parliamentary committee on October 19 last year held a meeting and sought detailed information on the current status of the forests and the list of forest occupiers and what steps have been taken to evict them, the sources said.

Divisional Forest Officer Aminul Islam further said on December 7 the same year, the information on grabbing forest land was sent to the parliamentary committee.

Mohipur Range Officer of Forest Department Md Abul Kalam Azad said many occupiers are influential. They are destroying the forest and occupying the land by building houses.

"Forest workers are being intimidated," he said, adding that a written complaint has been lodged with Mohipur Police Station.

According to Patuakhali Forest Department, there are 4,284.93 acres of forest land in Kuakata. By destroying forest, a section of local people has occupied 329.60 acres of forest land.

Contacted, Patuakhali DC Matiul Islam Chowdhury said the eviction of illegal occupants by the district administration is ongoing. Necessary steps are being taken to evict illegal occupants from the forest land in Kuakata as per the proposal of the Forest Department.