Grabbers feast on beaches

Sea Beach too Inherited, Owned!
Grabbers feast on beaches
Influential people continue to plunder the “ecologically critical” beaches in Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf and Kuakata by setting up structures there in the name of promoting tourism.
Over 90 percent of the 100-kilometre stretch of the beach from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf has been taken over by influential individuals or big entrepreneurs for setting up shrimp hatcheries and other installations, said Cox’s Bazar district administration sources.
The 17-kilometre long beach in Kuakata that experienced rapid erosion has also been subjected to indiscriminate grabbing.
Real estate developers and influential locals have put up signboards along the beach from Kauarchar in the east to Andhar Manik in the west claiming ownership of hundreds of acres of beach area.
Cox’s Bazar administration sources said the demand for hotels, restaurants and shops in the beach area rose sharply in the mid-90s. The previous Awami League government first came up with a plan to allocate 100 acres of beach area to facilitate tourism in Cox’s Bazar.
But the Department of Environment (DoE) disapproved the plan saying the Environment Protection Act 1995 classifies the area as “ecologically critical” and forbids any human intervention. The DoE recommendation compelled the then government to shelve the plan.
When the BNP-led coalition government assumed power in 2001, it revived the plan quickly and allocated 100 plots among its supporters.
A frantic effort to set up apartments, hotels, shops, restaurants and motels has been witnessed there since then.
A hotel owner recently built a concrete wall stretching up to the sea but was forced to demolish it following intervention by local administration and journalists.
An official of the Cox’s Bazar district administration said the present government has already moved to clamp down on the beneficiaries of plots given away during the tenure of previous BNP government.
Each of the 100 plots measuring an acre of land was handed over for Tk 34 lakh. Many of the beneficiaries defied the lease terms and sold their plots at prices up to five times higher than the amount.
Huge investments have been made for building hotels, cafes, restaurants and apartments since then, said the official wishing anonymity.
“There is not much the administration can do now to stop this, other than file cases and wait for years for a verdict. The damage has already been done,” the official said.
In a recent move the DoE in Chittagong has served 22 notices to hotel owners in Cox’s Bazar asking them to show cause as to why legal actions would not be taken against them for violating law. As per the law one has to obtain environmental clearance before building any installation in “ecologically critical” areas.
The DoE has also filed cases against two hoteliers in the area on charge of violating the law.
The land ministry about a month ago in an official notification imposed restriction on earth filling and construction on the Cox’s Bazar beach until further notice. Local people alleged that some developers continue construction work there at night defying the order.
Gias Uddin Ahmed, deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, told The Daily Star that his office did not receive any circular from the land ministry. He however said a circular issued by the Planning Commission in 2002 forbids setting up of structures within 300 feet of the Marine Drive that stretches up to Teknaf.
“We have suggested acquiring the entire beach area between Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf for the master plan for Cox’s Bazar, which is now under preparation,” said the deputy commissioner.
“In the master plan, we are putting emphasise on zoning the whole area and hopefully the master plan will be completed by November this year,” he said.
But if someone builds structure on private land along the beach, the district administration can do nothing about it, he added.
Tekaf presents a different spectacle. A gang of local thugs led by hotelier Abbas Uddin has taken over acres of khas land in the beach area by forging documents and bribing local administration. The gang is allegedly backed by ruling party men.
Over the last one week miscreants have reportedly cleared a ten-kilometre long green belt for installing hatcheries, shrimp enclosures and housing plots.
Real estate developers have taken up mega plans for building structures on Kuakata sea beach, about 280 kilometres off the capital.
A gang of encroachers has also been active in grabbing lands on the beach defying court orders. They have already occupied acres of the beach area, officially earmarked as khas land. Large signboards have also been put up there claiming ownership of demarcated “plots”.
The frenzy of grabbing lands on the beach began with a sharp rise in land prices in the area. Many land grabbers have already set up hotels, restaurants and shops in the beach area.

Courtesy of The Daily Star