‘Entertainment’ at the cost of cropland

The Forest Department is set to excavate an artificial lake at Amtali in Madhupur National Park to attract tourists, despite objections from the local ethnic minorities who fear this would damage their livelihoods and culture.

The 800 feet by 200 feet lake will be dug on 12 bighas of land near a two-storey rest house, which is under construction, next to Dokhala Rest House, according to the Forest Department.

The department is also planning to build walkways and seating arrangements around the lake, to be excavated under a project called "Eco-tourism development and sustainable management in Madhupur National Park with the help of local and ethnic people".

The local ethnic minority inhabitants have been opposing the plan since the start.

On March 10, they held a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity under the banner of Bangladesh Adivasi Sangram Parishad.

They demanded immediate cancellation of the plan to dig the lake on farmland that they have been cultivating for long.

In a written statement, they said more than 25,000 people of indigenous communities, including Mandi, Koch and Bormon, have been protecting the Madhupur forest and its biodiversity for ages. But the Forest Department, in the name of protecting the forest, takes up projects that harm the forest and environment.

Earlier on November 11 last year, the indigenous community leaders held a press conference at the Joyenshahi Adivasi Unnayan Parishad Office at Jalchhatra to protest the plan.

Speakers at the press conference called on the government to abandon the plan, and vowed to resist the bid.

They also said the Forest Department planned to dig the artificial lake on the three-crop land of the ethnic minority people "just for the entertainment" of tourists, without realising that it would threaten their livelihoods and culture.

They also warned of a lasting impact on whatever is left of the Madhupur forest and its environment as well as the traditional way of life of the ethnic minority people there.

Given the potential consequences, they urged the forest department to shift the project elsewhere.

THE PLAN IS SET

Md Sazzaduzzaman, divisional forest officer in Tangail, acknowledged that the locals grow crops on the land selected for the lake, but said the land was government property.

He said the matter was discussed at length at a meeting at Madhupur Upazila Parishad on March 19, where local lawmaker and agriculture minister, the deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police, forest officials, and community members, including those from the ethnic minority communities, were present.

Dr Ataul Gani, the DC, said at the meeting they assured the local communities who grow crops there of giving Tk 5 lakh on humanitarian ground.

"The honourable minister also assured them of providing other support as well to address their grievances," he said.

Alik Mre, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Chhatra Sangram Parishad, said they held a separate meeting with representatives from different ethnic minority communities on March 26.

At the meeting, they all expressed their opinions against the excavation plan, he added.

Eugin Nokrek, president of Joyenshahi Adivasi Unnayan Parishad, said Joshtina Nokrek, female vice-chairman of Madhupur Upazila Parishad, placed a proposal at the meeting on behalf of the local administration that the affected people will be provided with plots for social afforestation.

She also assured the local communities of constructing a drainage system near the lake to address the potential waterlogging problem on the cropland.

However, the locals turned down both proposals, he added.

Ajoy-A-Mre, a veteran Mandi leader in Madhupur and former president of Joyenshahi Adivasi Unnayan Parishad, said they think the plan to dig up a lake there was part of the process to evict them from the land.

"The community people want the government to resolve their long-pending land issues permanently by forming a separate land commission for it," he added.

The agriculture minister was scheduled to inaugurate the excavation work on April 1, but the inauguration did not take place as the local administration could not reach an agreement with the affected communities, according to the forest department sources.