BELA serves legal notice to CoxDA, 8 authorities to stop hill cutting

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) has issued a legal notice to the Cox's Bazar Development Authority (CoxDA) and eight other authorities concerned to stop cutting hills and filling water bodies.

Advocate Zakia Sultana, on behalf of BELA, served the notice today, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent.

The recipients of the notice include CoxDA chairman, secretaries of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Lands, and Ministry of Housing and Public Works, divisional commissioner of Chattogram, director General of Department of Environment (DoE), superintendent of police in Cox's Bazar, and director of DoE in Cox's Bazar office.

According to the notice, the CoxDA is cutting the hill and filling a reservoir in Kalatali of Cox's Bazar town. Besides, hills have been being cut in the 'Cox's Bazar Development Authority Residential Flat Development Project-1 area for the last ten days.

Several news outlets covered the news in online and print versions.

According to existing laws and court orders, cutting or removal of hills and filling water bodies is completely prohibited. Hill cutting and reservoir filling by Cox's Bazar Development Authority is contrary to prevailing laws in the country and in clear violation of court orders, the notice read.

In such a situation, through this notice, BELA has demanded the cessation of hill cutting in Kalatali area in Cox's Bazar by the COXDA in order to comply with the court order.

At the same time, it has been requested to take necessary measures to protect the remaining hill by planting native species of trees and setting up a retaining wall.

Legal notices on 12 govt officials to stop leasing out rivers in Pabna

BELA has served legal notices to five secretaries of different ministries, the deputy commissioner of Pabna, and six other top-level government officials demanding to stop leasing out waterbodies for fish farming.

Advocate Jakia Sultana, on behalf of BELA, served the notice today, reports our Pabna correspondent.

On January 14, the administration issued a circular inviting applications from fishermen, offering leases for 63 waterbodies including 31 rivers and two canals across nine upazilas in the district, according to the legal notice.

In the legal notice, BELA demanded the postponement of the effectiveness of the circular and not to lease all rivers and canals for fish farming in the district.