‘1.26 lakh acres of land emerged in Bay in last 10yrs’

Nearly 1.26 lakh acres of khas land emerged in the Bay of Bengal over the last 10 years, Land Minister Shamsur Rahman told parliament today.

In a written reply to lawmakers’ queries, the minister said 26 islands or chars having a total of 1,25,369.90 acres of khas land developed in the maritime boundary of Noakhali, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts.

Of the total islands or chars, 19 emerged in Cox’s Bazar with 30,583 acres of khas land, five in Noakhali with 75,884 acres of land, and two in Chittagong districts with 18,912.90 acres of land, the minister said.

The land minister also said the Swarnadwip with nearly 60,000 acres of khas land is the biggest island that has emerged in Hatiya upazila in Noakhali, followed by Bhashan Char (around 13,000 acres) in the same upazila.

Swarnadwip was handed over to Bangladesh Army, while Bhashan Char is going to be used for temporary rehabilitation of the Rohingya people, he added.