Bangladesh Building System Limited (BBS) in Telihati area of Sreepur Upazila of Gazipur has annual sales of more than Tk 1,200 crore. In 2017, this cable company took over 1.61 acres of reserved forest land in RS 2923, 2924 and 2925 spots of Telihati Mauza in Satkhamir Forest Bit for the construction of the factory. The current market value of the occupied land is at least two and a half crore rupees. The forest department has not yet recovered the occupied land.In the meantime, the administrative officer of the company in front of the main gate of the new factory. Hasnain alias Hasan took over the land of Ban and built the market. 30 thousand taka per month rent from that market. On the other hand, the elite Bhawal Resort and Spa in Naljani area of Gazipur Sadar has a monthly income of more than Rs. Villas at this resort are never empty in winter, summer and even during strike.During the construction 9-10 years ago, the company acquired 3.68 acres of land in Baripara Maujar SA CS 3, 279 and 271 of the reserved forest adjacent to Bhawal Resort. In this incident, the Forest Department filed an eviction case with the Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur to recover the land from the possession of Greentech Resort. But that land has not been recovered yet.In this way, more than two hundred and fifty companies are building factories, farms, luxury resorts, picnics and shooting spots in the protected forest land in Gazipur and are doing business worth hundreds of millions of taka per year. These companies have been built by occupying the forest land with private land due to personal influence and connivance of dishonest forest officials. Many of these establishments built in reserved forests or near forests do not have permission from the Department of Environment.According to the forest department list, 12 thousand 321 acres of forest land has been illegally occupied in Sripur, Kaliakair and Sadar upazilas of Gazipur. Out of this 174 institutions are in possession of 500 acres of land.
Last April, the forest department and the district administration recovered only 8.79 acres of forest land in Sripur and Gazipur Sadar upazila during the eviction operation.
The remaining land has been occupied as resorts, houses-shops, bazaars and agricultural land. 23,000 people have occupied more than 10,000 acres of forest land by building private houses.The environment and biodiversity of the area is under threat due to deforestation. However, the forest department has no effective initiative to prevent this invasion. Rather, forest land is being encroached upon in various ways.
According to the information of Forest Department, RAK Ceramics four acres in Dhanua Mouja, Rashowa Spinning Mill four acres, DBL Ceramics eight acres, Auto Spinning Mills 2.20 acres, Akand Garden 16 acres in Satkhamair Mouja, Rifat Bag 25th Century, Trade Management Corporation 7 in Patka Mouja. 64 acres,Kewa Moujar Mita Textiles 2.20 acres, Meghna Composites 40 per cent, Jobair Spinning one acre, Omega Sweaters one acre, Solar Ceramics 90 per cent, Eco Cotton 4.86 acres, Bhawal Industries two acres, Ontech Limited 4.94 acres, Howr U Textiles one acre, Aranyakutir 2.22 acres, Wisteria Textiles 5.33 acres, Paramount Textiles two acres, Apex Knit Composite 11.62 acres, Greatwall Ceramics 7.38 acres,DBL Group six acres in Tepirbari Mauza, Kunju Bithi one acre in Telihati Mauza, Alif Auto Bricks 70 percent, China Bangla Packaging one acre in Tepirbari Mauza, Prime Pharmaceuticals 76 percent, HS Agro one and a half acres, Rex Auto Bricks one acre 70 percent, Shishupalli in Tengra Mauza. Plus 12.5 acres, Mom Poultry occupies 70 percent and Warbit Steel Building occupies two acres of forest land.CCDV five acres in Pelaid Mouja, Saitalia Zaman Poultry two acres, Mauna Mouja Mono Feed 2.25 acres, H Power Limited 33 percent, Home Design 1.22 acres besides BBS Cable, The Sweater, Eco Cotton Mills, Citycell Limited have also occupied forest land. .According to the investigation, Pertex Group is the most advanced in occupying forest land in Gazipur Sadar Upazila. Pertex Cotton Limited owns 11.67 acres in plot numbers CS 254, 289, 294 and 300 in Bhawal National Park range of Sadar Upazila, Pertex Holdings Limited owns 5.09 acres in plot numbers CS 208, 585, 208 and 586 of the same plot, Amber Denim Limited Prasad Mauzay has occupied 43 acres of forest land totaling 26.24 acres in plots RS 8 to 18 and 28 to 32.However, no official of Pertex Group agreed to talk about these issues.
Sun Power Ceramics Limited has occupied 6.57 acres of reserved forest land in CS 428 and 598 spots at Bokran Manipur Mauza in Manipur area. Eviction cases were filed in 2007, 2009 and 2013 to save these forest lands.Regarding the encroachment of forest land, Sun Power's responsible officer Salim Bhuya said, "The SA and RS records of the factory land are in our name. But the forest department is claiming that land for them only because of the name in the gazette. The factory is set up with foreign investment. An equal amount of land claimed by the forest was proposed to be purchased elsewhere and afforested. But no response has been received in this regard yet. 'Phu-Wang Ceramics and Phu-Wang Food are in possession of 4.40 acres of reserved forest land at plot CS 598 in Bokran Manipur Mauza. In 2007, the Forest Department filed an eviction case at the Deputy Commissioner's office. But at that time the land has not been recovered due to the lawsuit filed. In this context, Rafiqul Islam, managing director of Fu-Wang Group, said, "There is no forest land in our company. 'Apart from this, Panas Autocreate Garments, Magdonals Bangladesh, Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, NAZ Garments Bangladesh, Wonderland Toys, Bentley Sweaters, One Denim, One Spinning Mills, MI Yarn Dyeing, Sharif Bari Farm & Rest House, Epilion Style, Atlas Food & Beverage, AB Siddique Polymer Industries, BEN Fixsteel Building Development, SM Knitting Industries, BD Collection,Bangladesh Maze Products, Evil Tex, Titus Spinning, Bengal Garments, Mala Poultry Farm, Muscat Poultry Farm, TS Transformers, National Feed, Modern Feed, Lithi Group, Paragon Poultry, Skin Graph, Gordon Steel Mills, Mosharf Composite, Packline, Artisan Ceramic Industries , BT Limited, Millennium Steel Mills Limited, Queens Poultry Farm Limited, Omni Agro Complex, Dhaka Fisheries, Radium Accessories, Nirjana Apparels,Golam Kibria Fisheries, Index Construction, Sahaba Yarn, ATI Ceramics, Givenchy Denims, Khorshed Alam Agro Complex, Bengal Hurricane Dyeing Printing Limited, Nestlé Bangladesh and Adi Agro Farms own forest land worth crores of rupees.15.05 acres of forest land has been built and encroached on plot number CS 942 at Kaliakoi Sohag Palli Resort, Kalampur area of Chandra Bit, Rangamati Water Front and Chandra Shilpi Kunj, Kocola Food Products, Kouchakuri Mauza. To recover these forest lands, the Forest Department proposed an eviction case to the Deputy Commissioner on September 11, 2014.Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Abul Fateh Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said, "Thousands of acres of forest land have been encroached upon by individuals and institutions in Gazipur. The forest department filed an eviction case but the operation did not proceed due to various reasons. No strong initiative has been taken by the forest department. The eviction operation has started since April 17. 8.79 acres of forest land has been recovered in Sreepur and Sadar upazilas. The campaign will continue. '
Statement of Forest Department
Regarding the encroachment of forest land by BBS Cable, Sreepur Forest Range Officer Mokhlesur Rahman said, 'The new list of forest land encroachment by the Forest Department also includes BBS Cables. A proposal has been made to the District Commissioner for eviction there. Land will be reclaimed by eviction soon. 'Regarding the encroachment of forest land, Dhaka Divisional Forest Officer Sazzadul Hossain said, 'These lands were encroached long ago. There have been no new encroachments in the last few years. In the meantime, the forest department has afforested hundreds of bighas of land on its own initiative. Apart from that, a meeting was held with the district administration to recover the occupied land. A joint evacuation operation has also started. All the land will be reclaimed and afforested in stages. 'Dhaka Divisional Forest Officer of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department Sharmin Akhtar said, "Eviction case has been proposed to the Deputy Commissioner to recover encroached forest land. The eviction process is going on according to the list. No one will be exempted. '