Staff Reporter:
The High Court on Wednesday ordered an eight-week halt to road construction work on the sand dunes of Cox’s Bazar sea beach and issued a rule in a contempt of court case filed over the alleged violation of an earlier court order protecting the beach’s natural features.
The court also adjourned the contempt proceedings for eight weeks.
The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan passed the orders after hearing a contempt petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) and a sepa-rate writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) seeking an im-mediate halt to the project
Advocate Minhajul Haque Chowdhury represented BELA while Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kajal and Deputy Attorney General Nur Mohammad Azmi represented the government.
The petitions were filed after reports appeared in the media about construction activities being carried out on the beach dunes despite an earlier court order prohibiting such activities.
According to the petitioners, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) had earlier filed a writ petition in the public interest seeking protection of Cox’s Bazar beach.
The High Court in 2011 directed the authorities to preserve the natural features of the beach and remove all structures built on the sand dunes.
The petitioners said various structures erected on the dunes had subsequently been removed on two occasions in compliance with court orders.
Despite this, Cox’s Bazar Municipality later undertook a project to construct a road through the beach dunes.
Advocate Minhajul Haque Chowdhury, a lawyer of BELA, said the Cox’s Bazar beach area falls with-in an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA), and any development work there requires clearance from the Department of Environment.
He alleged that the authorities undertaking the project had obtained only land-use permission and started construction without the required environmental clearance, making the work unlawful.
He also said the construction activities are prohibited within 300 metres of the sea beach under the relevant law, but the municipality was carrying out the project despite the restriction.
Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid, appearing for HRPB, said his organization had filed the original writ petition in 2010 after various structures were being erected by occupying parts of the beach.
The High Court subsequently directed the authorities to preserve the beach’s natural characteris-tics and remove structures from the dunes, and that the directions were eventually implemented after prolonged legal proceedings.
The ongoing road construction inside the dunes is now damaging the natural features of the beach and amounts to contempt of court, he argued.
Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kajal and Deputy Attorney General Nur Mohammad Azmi said that the road was being constructed under a government-approved development project to facili-tate public movement and support development in Cox’s Bazar.
The Attorney General also urged the court not to issue any interim order in the case.
