A forest department team today recovered around 2,500 acres of forest where a dam was built by local influentials in Chattogram's Satkania.

The team led by Abdullah Al Mamun, divisional forest officer of Chattogram South Forest Division, conducted a drive from 3:30pm till 11:30pm in Sonakania area under the Forest Division, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent quoting the DFO.

"We destroyed the dam and recovered the forest land from encroachers. We will file cases against the culprits after identifying them," said the DFO.

Photo: Collected

He said the encroachers earlier built a dam, 200ft in length and 20ft wide, to create a waterbody for fish farming in 2021.

The forest is home to different species of trees and wildlife.

During the drive, dozens of farmers came to the spot and expressed their happiness, saying their crop cultivation faced setbacks due to the dam.

Photo: Collected

Nasir Uddin, an accused, told reporters, "We built the dam after getting a no-objection certificate from the upazila administration in 2021."

However, Ahsan Habib, former upazila nirbahi officer, told reporters, "I didn't give any NOC to build a dam in forest land during my tenure."