The government has annulled the controversial allocation of 155.7 acres of forest land in Khuniapalong Mouza, Ramu Upazila, Cox’s Bazar, previously granted to the Shaheed ATM Zafar Alam Multidiscipline Academy.
The Ministry of Land decided to follow the request of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, stated, “Bangladesh already faces a shortage of forest land.
This allocation is canceled due to the government’s constitutional commitment to preserving the remaining forests.
The Shaheed ATM Zafar Alam Cadet College received the land in 2016 under a long-term lease worth approximately Tk77.7 lakh.
However, the lease was only awarded for Tk7,70,715. Later, the institution was renamed the Shaheed ATM Zafar Alam Multidiscipline Academy.
The Ministry of Land misclassified the biodiversity-rich land as “non-agricultural khas land” in official documents.
However, the Forest Department opposed this, submitting objections to the Ministry of Environment and other relevant authorities. Notably, the Forest Department had already gazetted the land as a reserved forest.
The interim government moved to cancel the allocation and on August 21, the Ministry of Environment formally requested the Ministry of Land to take adequate measures to rectify the issue.
Cox’s Bazar Life Report/Rajin Saleh
