Madhupur reserve forests disappearing fast

A truck leaving Modhupur (left) with timber brought from reserve forest area on hackney carriages drawn by horse. Locals say 20 to 25 truckloads of illegal timber find their way to different destinations every day. PHOTO: STAR

The forest department is busy to save the controversial wall built for creating an Eco Park rather than taking steps to preserve the forests.

Some of the contractors who constructed the wall and are now involved in its maintenance are also behind the large scale destruction of forests, some local people alleged while talking to this correspondent recently.

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They have links with organised gangs including local sawmill owners and timber merchants. Valuable timber trees are stolen from reserve forests in Madhupur allegedly in connivance with a section of forest department staff and law enforcers.

Forests officials sometimes recover stolen timber and take alleged thieves into custody but this is only an eyewash, they alleged.

Meer Abdul Latif, a timber merchant at Battala in Tangail, said that everyday, specially at night, 15 to 20 truckloads of timber like shal and gajari leave the forest areas for different destinations. Parts of these are also sold at nearby sawmills.

The pilferage continues due to ineffective steps by the local administration and forest department, he alleged.

There are over 50 sawmills and numerous brick fields near the forests, most of which are illegal, sources said.

Some influential quarters having political clout have grabbed vast areas of the reserve forests by using 'forged documents', an official of Tangail Forest Department told this correspondent seeking anonymity.

"We are virtually helpless", he said.

He said the gangs engage poor indigenous people at small remuneration for cutting and removing timber trees.

The reserve forests in Tangail were earlier spread over 1, 22,876 acres in five upazilas--45,565 acres in Madhupur; 47,220 in Sakhipur; 21,855 in Ghatail; 7,576 in Mirzapur and 669 acres in Kalihati, according to forest department sources.

Large portions of reserve forests in Madhupur have been illegally grabbed. Local influential encroachers, most of them aligned with ruling parties, have raised banana orchards and pineapple gardens and constructed makeshift structures to strengthen their position, they said.

Besides, there are 17,436 acres of reserve forest in Madhupur Gar in Mymensingh district.

Over 70,000 people including indigenous and Bangalees live in forests in Tangail and Mymensingh regions, who depend on the forests for their livelihood, forest department sources said.

Forest department officials however claimed that they can not take prompt action due to shortage of manpower and logistics.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in Tangail, Abu Hanif Patwari, admitted that about 20,000 acres of forestland out of 45,565 acres in Madhupur region have been occupied by land grabbers, most of them local influentials. About 10,000 acres were brought under rubber plantation, he said.

He however denied the allegation that a section of forest department staff was involvement in steeling timber trees.

"Local people steal trees. This is their profession", the DFO said.

The Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) and the Conscious Citizen Committee (CCC) in Madhupur jointly formed a human chain at Madhupur upazila headquarters on Wednesday last demanding steps to stop the plunder of Madhupur forests and save its biodiversity.

A large number of local people from different professions joined the human chain.

At a rally prior to the human chain, CCC Convener Abdul Latif said about two-thirds of the reserve forests in Madhupur have already disappeared and the lands occupied by local influentials. They are cultivating pineapple and banana on grabbed forest lands. Use of banned DDT power, insecticides and hormone in the fruit gardens is damaging the environment and biodiversity, he said.