BSCIC wants 214 acres of Sal forest

The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation is looking to turn 214 acres of Madhupur Sal Forest into an industrial park.

The corporation wants to set up a fruit processing plant at Beribaid Mouja, marked by the Forest Department as part of a reserved Sal forest.

The plan is to build a road, drainage system, dump yard, an effluent treatment plant, and utility lines in the forest, which according to the Mymensingh Agricultural University is home to numerous shrubs, medicinal plants, flower plants, monkeys, deer, and different species of birds.

Implementing the project may cost an estimated Tk 400 crore, said immediate past chairman of the corporation Mostaque Hassan.

The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) sent a letter to the Department of Environment (DoE) in Tangail on June 9, seeking to get the land on lease.

Since 1925, the Sal forest has lost 80,000 acres, which is two thirds of its land due to deforestation and encroachment, according to Forest Department data.

Pavel Partha, coordinator of Bangladesh Resource Centre For Indigenous Knowledge, said the Sal forest in Madhupur is dominated by trees that lose their foliage at the end of the growing season. It is the last of it's kind in Bangladesh, he said, adding that an industrial park will put its biodiversity at risk.

Deforesting another 214 acres by leasing it out will violate the Forest Act-1927, National Land Use Policy, National Forest Policy and a Cabinet Division circular from 2015.

Besides, Bangladesh promised to end deforestation by 2030 at the recently concluded 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

Jahirul Haque, divisional forest officer in Tangail, said he was not aware of the BSCIC plan. "All I can say is that it [industrial park] will not be allowed by the law. People are not even allowed to enter a reserved forest without authorisation."

Contacted, Mohammad Mojahidul Islam, deputy director at the DoE, said, "We will make a decision after the forest department states its opinion."

In September last year, the then BSCIC chairman Mostaque Hassan visited the project site. The chairman said a detailed project plan was being made.

"There are some land of the forest. If necessary, we will exempt the forestland and implement the project," he told The Daily Star.

The land has been lying idle, he said, adding that an industrial park would create "employment opportunities for young people".

"I talked to the agriculture minister. He promised to help us get the lease," he said.

BSCIC operates under the Ministry of Industries and the matter in question is not directly related to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said the High Court in 2018 and 2019 asked the authorities concerned to demarcate the Madhupur Sal Forest and ensure that the communities native to the region can maintain their traditional ways of living. The court also ordered protecting the biodiversity of the forest.

"How could the BSCIC plan to set up an Industrial Park inside the Sal forest when the High Court clearly ordered not to use the forestland for any commercial purposes?" she asked.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

In 2018, the HC ordered officials of the forest and administration to frame rules under Forest Act-1927 to ensure regeneration of Madhupur Sal Forest through plantation of indigenous species with the participation of forest-dependent people.

Section-17 of the National Land Use Policy-2001 insists that such forestland should be conserved, maintained, and expanded.

State Acquisition and Tenancy Act-1950 prevents forest from being leased out and declared forest land as non-retainable property.

Besides, the forest department's letter of no-objection is required for the construction of any structure on land belonging to the Forest Department, said a Cabinet Division circular in 2015.

In 2018, a land ministry circular requested the deputy commissioners of the district not to lease out any protected and reserved forest.