High Court orders Kaptai Lake boundary survey, seeks list of illegal occupiers
The authorities must survey within four months, in accordance with the original map of Kaptai Lake, and submit a report listing the names and addresses of the owners of illegal structures found within its boundaries.
The High Court today (16 August) ordered the authorities concerned to survey the boundary of Kaptai Lake in Rangamati and submit a list of illegal occupiers.
A High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan passed the order following a hearing on a supplementary petition.
Senior lawyer Manzill Murshid appeared for the petitioner.
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The authorities must survey within four months, in accordance with the original map of Kaptai Lake, and submit a report listing the names and addresses of the owners of illegal structures found within its boundaries, according to the court.
The court fixed 6 January 2027 for submission of the report and directed the Rangamati deputy commissioner and the director general of the Department of Land Records and Surveys to submit it.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) earlier filed a writ petition in the public interest following media reports that Kaptai Lake was being polluted and encroached upon by illegal occupiers.
The High Court issued a rule over the matter on 17 October 2022.
HRPB later filed the supplementary petition seeking directives upon the Rangamati deputy commissioner and the director general of the Department of Land Records and Surveys to conduct a boundary survey of Kaptai Lake in line with its map and submit a list of illegal occupiers.
Manzill Murshid said many illegal occupiers are currently claiming ownership of the land, making it difficult to evict them.
He said a proper survey was therefore necessary to identify the actual encroachers, prompting the petitioner to seek the court's intervention.
