Several rights organizations have sent a letter to the prime minister, urging intervention to conserve and halt earth-filling in the agricultural lands of six mauzas in Sonargaon upazila, Narayanganj.
The letter was sent to the Prime Minister's office by registered mail on Sunday.
The signatories to the letter are Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) founding president Sultana Kamal, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman, Ain o Salish Kendra Executive Director Faruq Faisel, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust Legal Advisor SM Rezaul Karim, Green Voice Coordinator Alamgir Kabir, Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir, Association for Land Reform and Development Executive Director Shamsul Huda, Nagorik Uddyog Chief Executive Zakir Hossain, and Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Director Pavel Partha.
The letter states that Pirojpur, Jainpur, Choyhisya, Char Bhavanathpur, Bhatibandar, and Ratanpur Mauzas of Pirojpur Union are included in the government's ERI scheme. A private housing company, titled Unique Property Development Ltd, initiated the housing project "Sonargaon Resort City" in 2011 by filling up existing agricultural lands, lowlands, and swamp lands in the six mauzas of Sonargaon upazila.
It alleges that the company began filling up 2,350 bighas of land to implement its so-called project. Local people are being forced to sell land in some cases through threats and coercion.
Government authorities have fined the company several times for illegal earth-filling in these six mauzas.
Farmer objections against earth-filling prompted Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) to initiate a public interest litigation.
After the preliminary hearing of the case, on March 2, 2014, the High Court banned earth-filling in those six mauzas.
Later, on August 14, 2018, the Appellate Division ordered a halt to the earth-filling with soil and sand in those mauzas and the removal of the soil used to fill the areas.
In violation of the court directives, the company changed the name of its housing project and continued to fill soil and sand to create the "Sonargaon Economic Zone" on the same land, obtaining a pre-qualification license from the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA).
Bela again went to court against this. On December 2, 2020, the court issued a ruling with eleven points of instruction following the hearing.
The HC declared in the ruling that the sand-filling operations intended to establish commercial zones in the large agricultural areas, low-lying areas, and wetlands located in the mauzas were illegal.
It directed the Department of Environment (DoE) and local administration to determine the amount of land occupied and filled with sand and the amount of compensation for those activities.
Simultaneously, the court ordered Sonargaon's assistant commissioner (land) and Narayanganj's deputy director of the Department of Environment to restore the lands to their previous condition at Sonargaon Economic Zone Limited and Unique Property Development Limited's expense.
After the stay order, filling in the mauzas remained stopped. However, while the leave-to-appeals were pending, besides those six, in Char Bhavnathpur, earth-filling and sanding on farmers' fields began again.
Following the hearing, the Chamber Judge granted the plea for an injunction against the filling in the Appellate Division on December 13, 2023, once more prohibiting the filling.
The organization's complaint is that earth-filling activities are ongoing in violation of the ban, and the administration has not taken any effective initiative to control it.
The letter reminded the prime minister of her precept, stating, "You said, agricultural land cannot be destroyed in the name of development."
The concern of the signatories is that while various laws, policies, and schemes of the government have given hope to the public, the filling of agricultural land and water bodies by land grabbers at various times is alarming. In many cases, the indifference of the administration, colluding with the filling up of agricultural land, is becoming a hindrance in enforcing discipline.
As proof, the organization highlighted the example of illegal earth-filling of agricultural land in the six mauzas in the name of the so-called "Sonargaon Economic Zone."
In this situation, they requested the prime minister to take necessary steps to stop earth-filling in the name of the economic zone.