Environment activists on Monday urged the government to demolish all illegal structures set up by Hallmark Group as the business group continues grabbing water bodies violating High Court order.
At a human chain joined by affected land owners, the green activists said Hallmark Group was setting up industries filling ponds, lakes and walkways ignoring the High Court order which put an injunction on the activities of Hallmark Group at Savar for the next four months.
Save the Environment Movement organised the programme in front of the Dhaka University Fine Arts Faculty.
In the programme, Nagarik Odhikar Sangrakkhan Forum president Hafizur Rahman Moyna demanded punishment of the business group for violating the law and the people who relaxed the punishment.
He urged the government to pull down all illegal structures of Hallmark Group near the Hemayetpur-Singair-Manikganj road.
Affected land owners Oliza Hasan, Babor Hasan and Hasan Masud also spoke at the human chain.
On July 30, 2012 the High Court directed the Department of Environment not to issue any environment and site clearance certificates to Hallmark Group for establishing an industrial park at Savar for the next four months.
In response to a writ petition, the court ordered the business group authorities to stop for the same period any kind of earth-filling at Kandibaliarpur, Nandankhali, Jamur, Muchipara and Vopri moujas of Savar upazila for establishing the industrial park.
The HC also stayed for four months the environment ministry’s decision to waive Tk 36 lakh from a penalty of Tk 40 lakh slapped on the company by the DoE.
The company was fined for taking up the project in the area including the wetland of the Dhaleswari River to the south of Singair Bridge without obtaining the mandatory environmental clearance certificate.
But an appellate body of the environment ministry on May 10 cut the penalty substantially.
On July 29, 2012 Save the Environment Movement filed the writ petition challenging the legality of Hallmark Group’s move to establish the industrial park in the area.
-With New Age input
