High Court orders survey of Kaptai Lake to identify and list illegal encroachers
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The High Court has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Rangamati and the Director General of the Department of Land Records and Surveys to conduct a formal boundary survey of Kaptai Lake and submit a comprehensive report identifying all illegal structures within its limits. The court mandated that the report include the names and addresses of the individuals or entities responsible for the encroachments.
The order was issued on Sunday by a High Court bench comprising Justice J.B.M. Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil, following a hearing on a supplementary petition related to a writ filed four years ago. The court has set January 6 as the deadline for the submission of the findings.
The legal proceedings originated from a public interest litigation filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) on October 16, 2022. The petition was prompted by a media report titled “Everyone Together Occupying Kaptai Lake,” published on September 17, 2022. In its initial ruling on October 17, 2022, the High Court issued an injunction to halt further land filling and illegal construction within the lake area. At that time, the court had also instructed the Deputy Commissioner to survey the lake and identify illegal occupiers.
HRPB filed the recent supplementary petition after the court’s initial directives regarding the survey remained largely unfulfilled. Senior lawyer Manzill Murshid, representing the petitioners, informed the court that the Deputy Commissioner had previously noted in an affidavit that the assistance of the Department of Land Records and Surveys was essential to complete the technical boundary mapping.
During Sunday’s proceedings, Senior Advocate Manzill Murshid was assisted by lawyer Sanjay Mondal, while the state was represented by Deputy Attorney General Nur Mohammad Azmi.
The court’s latest directive mandates that the Deputy Commissioner and the Director General of the Department of Land Records and Surveys act in coordination to ensure the survey is conducted in strict accordance with the original official map of Kaptai Lake. Upon completion, they are required to submit the finalized report, complete with the detailed list of encroachers and their identified properties, to the High Court by the specified January date.
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