Ignoring all the government rules and regulations, illegal sawmills have sprung up in Mymensingh without a license, right under the nose of the administration.
However, there is no list of legal and illegal sawmills in Mymensingh district, said Mymensingh Divisional Forest Officer Kazi Muhammad Nurul Karim. He said this in response to questions from journalists at his office on Tuesday (July 22) morning. He said, we are quickly listing these sawmills. No campaign has been taken for a long time before, so no list has been made.
Meanwhile, illegal sawmills are being set up everywhere without rules and regulations, on the one hand, the environment is being damaged, and on the other hand, the government is being deprived of a large amount of revenue.
There are allegations that some dishonest officials and employees of the Forest Department collect annual bribes from mill owners. These officials, employees and mill owners benefit from this. On the other hand, the government's revenue fund accounts remain empty.
There are allegations that the brokers of these mills are tempting the common people of the rural areas to sell all kinds of trees. In many mills, banned wood and forest department wood are cut in the dark of night. This is killing trees on one hand, and destroying the balance of the environment on the other.
A citizen, who did not want to be named, said that several documents and two thousand taka are required to license a sawmill. However, the forest department officials have been closing down the illegal 'saw' mills for ages by doing 'two-piece' business, citing manpower shortage. He believes that if the illegal mill owners were fined heavily or their mills were sealed, they would be forced to license them and the government's revenue would also increase.
Several mill owners were asked why they are not licensing their sawmills. They refused to answer the question. They only said that they are subjected to widespread harassment when they go to get a license.
Mymensingh Forest Department Assistant Conservator of Forests Md. Sadequl Islam Khan said that notices have been issued to the illegal sawmill owners. Legal action will be taken against these illegal sawmills very soon.
Mymensingh Environment Department Inspector Mahbubul Islam said that if an application is made to us for an environmental clearance certificate for a sawmill and if the location and documents are in order according to the Environment Protection Rules 2023, we issue the clearance certificate. And if there are any specific complaints about illegal sawmills, legal action will be taken against them.
Mymensingh Divisional Forest Officer Kazi Muhammad Nurul Karim said that we have discussed with the mill owners to get the sawmill licensed. But the mill owners are making various excuses and are complaining about various types of harassment by the Department of Environment and the Land Office. We are listing all the saw mills in Mymensingh district. Discussions have also been held with the Honorable Deputy Commissioner in this regard. Soon, illegal saw mill owners will be forced to get licenses by operating mobile courts in different parts of the district. In response to journalists' questions, he also said that it is not yet possible to say exactly how many illegal saw mills there are, but we are listing them. If any officer or employee of the Forest Department has taken bribes from the mill owners, action will be taken against them.
Mymensingh Additional Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Tahmina Akhter said that action will be taken against illegal saw mill owners. There is no chance of running saw mills illegally. If they run saw mills, they must have a license.
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