Scenic Kuakata losing beauty

Illegal constructions on both sides prevent expansion and development of the main road in Kuakata by the Roads & Highways Department.Photo: Morshed Ali Khan

Influential quarters are grabbing public land, by allegedly falsifying documents and constructing hotels, restaurants, shops and houses without any plan whatsoever.

Such indiscriminate construction is not only jeopardizing future government plans to build a model tourist spot but also tainting the landscape and the environment of the area.

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Illegal constructions along the narrow main road have made it impossible for the Roads and Highways Department to widen the thoroughfare without a massive demolition drive.

According to Kalapara Land Registration Office, there are 2,674.97 acres of khas land in Kuakata and four other adjacent villages but the district administration has control over only 550 acres. The remaining 2,124 acres have been grabbed.

Although many landless families are occupying most of the the khas land, influential grabbers have chosen prime properties near the centre of the town and the beach to build their businesses.

The alleged grabbers have however a different story to justify their acts. Some of them told this correspondent that a good number of investors waited for years for the government to chalk out a master plan for the area but years' of waiting did not bear any fruit.

"We could see the potential of business in Kuakata and realised that waiting for a master plan would only cause more loss," said Iqbal Ahmed, who is constructing a tourist complex on a khas land. He claims to have 'proper documents' of the land.

Despite the dilapidated condition of the 70-kilometer road from Patuakhali, some 500,000 tourists visited Kuakata between October and March last year, according to an estimate by the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

Kuakata is particularly attractive to tourists for its unique features of sunrise and sunset in the sea and a variety of wildlife in the adjacent forests. The vast coconut plantations along its wide beach, he lone such thing in the country, adds to its scenic beauty.

Hundreds of concrete and tin-shed structures have been built haphazardly. In 2000, Patuakhali district administration put a ban on all constructions in Kuakata until the government completes its 'master plan' covering an area of 2,000 acres to create an Exclusive Tourism Zone (ETZ).

In January 2002 the government formed Kuakata Upazila Bastobayon Committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Patuakhali.

In 2002 the Prime Minister first declared that ETZs would be built in Kuakata, Cox's Bazar and in the Sundarbans to encourage eco-tourism. An official at the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation's Planning Cell said that a proposal regarding the ETZ is now lying with the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry. There has not been much progress on it, he said.

Thana Nirbahi Officer (TNO) of Khepupara, Abdul Barek, told The Daily Star that he had just sent a list of illegal structures in Kuakata to the higher authorities for starting a demolition drive. He however said that many land grabbers have moved to court and obtained stay order on the government and therefore those structures could not be demolished until the cases are over.