7L fine for razing Chittagong hills

The Department of Environment has fined three entities, including AK Khan Group of Companies, Tk664,000 for razing hills in Khulshi police station area of Chittagong.

At the same time, a person named Mohammad Hossain Hiron was fined Tk50,000 for constructing a multi-storey building without clearance from the Department of Environment.

The information was disclosed in a press release signed by Mohammad Nurullah Noori, director of the Chittagong metropolitan office of the Environment Department on Wednesday.

According to the press release, the fine was imposed after a hearing at the Department of Environment on Wednesday morning. This punishment was made under Section 7 of the Environment Conservation Act-1995 (Amended 2010). 

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They were cutting down the hill and damaging the environment. The accused have been directed to pay the fine within the next seven days.

The press release further stated that AK Khan Company has been fined Tk92,500 for levelling 370 square feet of hills in the VIP housing area of Khulshi police station in Chittagong.

Syed Kudrat-e-Khoda was fined Tk4.44 lakh and Shahjahan Haider Chowdhury was fined Tk1.87 lakh for levelling 1,776 square feet of hills in the same area.

The Department of Environment hastily launched the operation after reports in various media about the AK Khan group's recent acts of deforestation.