2 lakh acres of reserved forest still in dispute

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Declaration of more than 2 lakh acres of forestland as reserved in seven districts of Dhaka division has been stymied for the last 50 years due to stalling settlement of claims over the lands.

During the period however only 71,369 acres of forestlands in the districts of Dhaka, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Netrakona, Jamalpur and Tangail have been declared as reserved while 1.05 lakh acres of forests in Dhaka, Mymensingh and Tangail districts are still under the control of land grabbers.

“We are facing difficulties in establishing our absolute right over the forestlands since those forests are yet to be declared as reserved due to a huge number of pending cases of claims. In addition to that some crooked forest officials helped land grabbers to encroach upon those forestlands, using fake documents,” a senior forest official told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday AKM Shamsuddin, who is now the acting chief conservator of forest, said the remaining forestlands, slated to be declared as reserved, should be declared as such soon by settling the cases of claims to protect those from land grabbers.

“We continue urging the settlement officers to settle the claims as soon as possible to clear the way for declaring the slated forestlands as reserved. The ongoing problem will become acute if the process is delayed anymore,” Shamsuddin said.

Once a forestland is declared reserved, the forest department is fully authorised according to the Forest Act 1927 to take legal actions against any damage done to a reserved forest, observed forest officials.

The process of declaring the forestlands as reserved began in 1956, which got stymied mainly due to indifference of the settlement officers, whose task it is to settle the cases of claims filed in connection with the lands.

According to the Forest Act 1927, the slated forests were supposed to be declared as reserved within a maximum of a year and a half since the issuance of the notification marking those for preservation.

In a report placed to a high level meeting recently on the status of the slated forestlands, the forest department said there are a total of 2.58 lakh acres of such forestlands in the seven districts.

Once upon a time, those forests were properties of mainly the Zamindars [large-scale landlords], who handed those over to the erstwhile government following a gazette notification between 1923 and 1935. The forests were then vested in the hands of the forest department after the dissolution of the Zamindari system. For better management of the forestlands, an initiative began in 1956 for declaring the forests as reserved, only 71, 369 acres of which have been declared as reserved so far.

The report however claimed that a process is underway for declaring another 9,297 acres of forestlands of Mymensingh and 44, 207 acres of forests under the Tangail forest department as reserved. But forest officials could not specify a timeframe for completing the task.

Since the notification for declaring the forestlands as reserved had been issued in 1956, a huge number of claims were lodged against it, most of which were based on false documents. Additional deputy commissioners (revenue) of the districts concerned, who were appointed as settlement officers for the cases, have not been able to settle the claims over the last half a century.

Taking the opportunity, many local people encroached upon those forestlands by showing fake documents and later some of them sold some of those lands to other people. For instance, currently detained businessman Abdul Awal Mintoo purchased 94.98 acres of such forestlands in Mymensingh while former BNP lawmaker MA Hashem, who is also currently in detention, purchased 47 acres of such forestlands.

The forest department took initiatives for recovering the lost forestlands, but it faced tremendous difficulties since people who purchased such forestlands took legal actions against the forest department based on fake documents, said the forest officials.

Moreover, the forest ministry in the past allotted forestlands to ruling party people or businessmen loyal to those parties. For instance, ignoring the objection of the forest department, the forest ministry during the immediate past BNP-led government’s regime, allotted 23.75 acres of forestlands to controversial businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun, who is currently in jail being convicted in a plethora of criminal cases, sources said.

Once the process of declaring a forestland as reserved begins, it is the duty of the forest department to recover the forestland from encroachers. But the land grabbers filed so far four to five thousand cases claiming ownerships over the slated forests and got court orders in favour of them in many of those cases.

If a forestland is declared as reserved, the Forest Act 1927 allows the forest department to take legal actions against any attempt to encroach upon that reserved forest.

The Forest Act prohibits in reserved forests kindling or carrying of fire except in seasons specified by the forest department. The act also stipulates that an offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to Tk 2 thousand in addition to the compensation ascertained by a convicting court for the damage done to the forest by trespassing or bringing cattle in for grazing or for permitting grazing or trespassing; for causing any damage to the forest by negligently cutting any tree or dragging any timber; for quarrying stone or burning lime or charcoal; for collecting forest produce or for subjecting them to any manufacturing process; and for entering a reserved forest with firearms without prior permission from the divisional forest officer concerned.

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