Industries Inside Bhawal National Park

Green light to 300 units
The Awami League-led government is issuing environmental clearance certificates for industries on “private land” inside the Bhawal National Park in Gazipur, backtracking on its stance and lifting a ban imposed in 1999 during its previous tenure.
This move will legalise around 300 illegal industries set up in eight mouzas during or before the BNP-Jamaat rule inside the National Park.
All the successive governments in the last two decades allowed industrialists to set up industries. And now the incumbent government is giving them legal status.
The National Environment Committee led by the prime minister at a meeting on September 16 last year took this decision and a gazette to that end has already been issued.
The committee decided that the industries on “private land would get clearance certificates if they don’t pollute environment”.
“We’ve already started the process to provide environmental clearance certificates to the industries. Already we have forwarded applications of five industries to the ministry,” said Zafar Ahmed Khan, director general of the Department of Environment (DoE).
“We have put conditions that they would set up green industries in the reserve forest,” he added.
Environmentalists fear the decision would turn the National Park into an industrial zone where influential people have already grabbed a significant part of the 12,435-acre forest.
As the trend continues, the genuine forest coverage of the country has already reduced to 6 percent against the official claim of 16 percent.
“The government could not save the forest land when it was illegal. This move will encourage the powerful industrialists to degrade the forest further,” said Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA).
Though the new gazette was issued on December 6 the government has yet to make it public.
Earlier in 1999, the last AL government issued an order prohibiting any structures or establishing industries, factories in the eight mouzas — Araisho Prasad, Bon Khoria, Bishoyakuribari, Baraipara, Uttar Salna, Bau Para, Bahadurpur and Mohana Bhabanipur — inside the national park.
The presidential order was issued on November 22, 1999 by then secretary Syed Margub Morshed on behalf of the president of the republic of Bangladesh. The order said anybody violating the order will be treated as criminal and punished accordingly.
The Bhawal forest was declared the national park under the Bangladesh Wildlife Preservation Act, 1974 to preserve environment and biodiversity of the forest.
The law does not allow anyone to do anything, be it on forest or private land, which may hamper biodiversity. Now the government itself puts biodiversity at stake in the year 2010, which has been declared as the International Biodiversity Conservation Year.
Speaking anonymously, an official of the Department of Forest (DoF), Dhaka Division, said the existing 300 industries inside the National Park are of several categories. Some industries are set up on occupied forest land, while some set up on private land are using roads through the forest.
“The move to issue environmental clearance would facilitate the industrialists to get all sorts of facilities including obtaining loans from the government,” the official added.
The Forest Policy of 1994 also does not permit use of forestland for purposes other than planting trees without the permission of the head of the state.
The government is now going to permit setting up new industries under the new government order. Though the DoE was earlier filing cases against owners of illegal industries, now the order is going to legalise around 300 industries set up over the years illegally.
Some cases against the illegal industries are yet to be resolved in the court.
The DoE and the DoF jointly made a list of illegal industries in 2007 and all of them are going to be legalised now.
The newly issued gazette does not say anything about the existing industries, but officials from the DoE say those who have already set industries will also get clearance certificates.
The industries are mostly of dyeing, spinning, steel, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, agro-products, composites, food products, knitwear, soap, and rubber, many of which are polluting environment for years.
Since declared as National Park in 1982, around 1,900 people have so far occupied its 618 acres and constructed over 3,500 structures illegally.
During the BNP-Jamaat rule, the environment and forest ministry itself helped lease out forest land to Gias-Al-Mamun, friend of Tarique Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
The ministry also changed status of the forest to Khas land and later the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Gazipur leased out the land to Orion Group to establish a farm of medicinal plants.
Later, Orion handed over the land to One Group to establish Denim Composite Ltd and One Spinning Mills.
In May 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed two cases against some lawmakers and leaders of BNP.
Asked, Chief Conservator of Forest Abdul Motaleb said the permission will be given only to the industries set up on private property, not on forest land.
The chief conservator believes the forest department will be able to protect the Bhawal forest despite the government’s latest move.

Courtesy of The Daily Star