With the administration's apparent indifference, in many cases, to the wellbeing of the environment and natural resources, it is not surprising that individual citizens and the courts are having to step in to do their job. The High Court yesterday issued an order of status quo regarding the land filling of Chengti Khal in the Maona area in Gazipur for a month, in response to a writ petition. The HC also ordered the deputy commissioner of Gazipur and assistant commissioner of land of Sreepur upazila to conduct a survey on the canal and submit the report to this court in 30 days. We thank the High Court as well as Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) for intervening once again, this time to stop the illegal filling up of a water body. Water bodies are gradually becoming extinct in many places in Bangladesh, filling up of which would mean depriving the locals of accessible sources of water.

The matter highlights once again the exploitation of one's political position and power for personal gains that are detrimental to public interest. The said Khal, located near Maona in Gazipur, was being filled up by a local influential UP member, despite the consequential damage to the surrounding environment. This is a gross violation of the rules of law that prohibit such activities. When guardians become the predators, who should the state and the people put their faith in? UP members are also the guardians of state property within their respective jurisdictions and responsible for their preservation and upkeep. This also speaks of the gross negligence of the chairman of the upazila and his complicity in the illegal act.

Damaging the environment is a punishable offence and we believe that apart from the injunction, which hopefully will become a permanent order, the persons responsible for the illegal act should also be held to account and penalised accordingly.