Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on Tuesday told Parliament that some 257,000 acres of forest lands were illegally occupied over the years throughout the country.

“Some 257,000 acres of forest lands were occupied in the past years, according to our survey,” he said, replying to a supplementary question from opposition chief whip Mujibul Haque in the House.

Mujibul Haque, also the general secretary of Jatiya Party, in his question said thousands of acres of the reserved forest lands were illegally occupied and questioned if the necessary steps would be taken to recover the grabbed lands conducting any survey.  

The Minister said the government has already prepared a complete list mentioning the names of the forest land grabbers. “We’ve also made it (the list) public. We’ve already recovered some 27,000 acres of forest lands and the process continues to reclaim the remaining grabbed lands,” he said.

Saber Hossain said the forest lands are grabbed by influentials and occupied in the name of development projects like road development, electricity transmission line or rail-line schemes.

“We’ve taken steps if any issue to acquire forest land comes in designing a development project, the reasons must be mentioned and the relevant authorities in the Planning Commission and Ecnec should be conscious in clearing such projects,” he added.

In reply to another supplementary question from ruling party lawmaker SM Ataul Haque (Satkhira-4), the environment minister said though the overall situation of forest lands is not satisfactory, there is good news for the Sundarbans.

“The Sundarbans have not been significantly affected yet,” he said.

Ataul Haque in his question enquired if there is any particular plan to protect the world largest mangrove forest Sundarbans and coastal areas from the adverse impacts of climate changes like rise of salinity.

The Minister said the rise of salinity is really a big problem for not only the Sundarbans but also different coastal areas.

He said the second joint meeting between Bangladesh and India will be held in Dhaka within the next few weeks to discuss joint management to conserve the Sundarbans in line with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Dhaka and New Delhi.