BANGLADESH NEWS
The High Court on Monday stayed developing industrial park and any kind of earth filling by occupying proposed Janata Housing scheme by Hall-Mark Group in Nandokhali and other moujas of Savar upazila.
The court also stayed a decision of the environment ministry that exempted the company from Tk 40 lakh penalty.
The orders came following a writ petition by an environmentalist group Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) with legal assistance of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela).
Advocate Iqbal Kabir of Bela, who appeared along with advocate AM Aminuddin, told that the court asked the ministries of public works, environment, water resources, industries and Dhaka deputy commissioner to explain why Hall-Mark's industrial park and appeal authority's exemption order should not be declared arbitrary and illegal.
Earlier, Department of Environment (DoE) fined the company for illegally initiating industrial park on a 100-acre area including Dhaleswari river's wetland to the south of Singair Bridge without obtaining mandatory environmental clearance destroying local ecology.
The company confessed to the offence and paid the penalty immediately.
But, an appellate body led by additional secretary Auparup Chowdhury of the environment ministry let the company Hall-Mark Group off the penalty on May 10 glorifying it as an export-oriented company.
The appeal authority cut the Tk 40 lakh penalty down to 4 lakh slapped for illegally setting up an industrial park in Savar.
The court directed DoE not to issue site clearance or environmental clearance in favour of Hall-Mark for setting up the said industrial park in the area until the rule is finally disposed.
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