HC orders removal of bamboo fence from river in Batiaghata within 7 days

The High Court has ordered the removal of a bamboo fence constructed across the Amatala river in Batiaghata upazila's Gangarampur union in Khulna, under the guise of a lease, within seven days.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Md Habibul Goni and Justice Syed Mohammad Tajrul Hossain passed the order on Monday. The court has also directed the concerned authorities to submit a compliance report on the implementation of the order within three weeks.

Additionally, the court has issued a four-week rule, asking why the administration's inaction in preventing river encroachment through the bamboo fence should not be declared illegal, and why an order should not be given to remove the fence.

The writ petition was filed by environmental organisation Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), citing media reports. The respondents include the secretaries of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Water Resources, the Director General of the Department of Environment, and the Deputy Commissioner of Khulna.

Arguing for the petitioner, the organisation's president and senior Advocate Monzil Morshed said that under the Environmental Conservation Act and the High Court's rulings declaring rivers as living entities, there is no scope to obstruct the natural flow of rivers or navigation. He argued that even if the local administration leased the river, no one has the legal right to construct a bamboo fence from one bank to the other within the river. Such a lease is effectively illegal.

Advocates Sanjay Mandal, Mohammad Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury and Rimon Barai also argued for the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Jisan Haidar represented the state.