Bakkhali River in Cox’s Bazar: Grabbers back in business

Months after an eviction drive that demolished over 200 structures illegally built along the bank of Bakkhali river in Cox's Bazar town, the area has been grabbed yet again.

In a recent visit to Kusturaghat area, where the Kuruskul bridge is being built over the river, it was seen that at least 100 structures have been built again by grabbing 54 acres of land, right under the nose of the district administration.

The grabbed land was earlier reclaimed through a drive in March this year.

New structures were also seen being built on both sides of the connecting road to the Kuruskul bridge, along with signs of mangrove trees being plundered in a bid to grab the land.

At least 30,000 trees had been felled just days before the eviction drive was conducted. The Department of Environment (DoE) in Cox's Bazar earlier filed a case accusing 42 people in this connection in February.

Several reports from the district administration, Bangladesh Inland Water Transportation Authority (BIWTA), and DoE identified around 132 grabbers. However, no fruitful step has been taken to recover the river's land from their clutches.

The Bakkhali, originating from the hilly region of Nikkhanchhari upazila of Bandarban and falling in the Maheshkhali channel in Cox's Bazar town, flows spirally through these two districts over a 68-kilometre stretch.

The river used to flow near Badarmokam, before it changed course and currently flows through Kusturaghat.

Land grabbing has occurred on a 5-km stretch of the river from Samuda bridge to the Nuniachhara area near Cox's Bazar airport.

Following a petition filed by the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association in 2014 and a subsequent High Court order, the district administration conducted the eviction drive on March 1.

After the drive, the administration, however, did not demarcate the land and failed to save it from the hands of grabbers.

Md Jillur Rahman, assistant commissioner (land) of Cox's Bazar Sadar upazila, however, said the structures were demolished as per court directive following the laws of Cox's Bazar Development Authority, which does not permit construction of any structures without its approval.

While no structure is allowed on lands purely owned by the government, the official said the lands on the Bakkhali bank, however, were recorded as private land in the Revisional Survey (RS) and Bangladesh Survey (BS).

"As an AC (Land), I have no authority to evict the structures on private land. After the eviction drive in March, several violation cases were filed and legal notices were served against us," Jillur added.

Abu Morshed Chowdhury, an environmentalist and president of Cox's Bazar Chamber of Commerce, said there are controversies over the river area. The government should make it a priority to conduct a survey to demarcate the land for the sake of saving the river.

Earlier, through a gazette notification, the government in 2010 employed BIWTA as a conservator of the Bakkhali River Port.

The gazette also directed to hand over 269 acres of land on the river shore at Kusturaghat to BIWTA.

Nayan Shil, BIWTA deputy director in Chattogram, said the land has not been handed over to them yet as they are awaiting the approval of the land ministry in this regard.