The High Court (HC) yesterday declared illegal the Rimjhim Police Town and Italian City, which were being built by filling up the Kajla Beel area and farmers' land in Rupganj upazila under Narayanganj district. The HC bench, comprising Justice Syed Mohammad Dastagir Hossain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan, gave the verdict after the final hearing of a writ petition.

Four local persons, including Badsha Miah, had jointly filed the writ petition following newspaper reports that the authorities of the Rimjhim Police Town and Italian City were filling up more than 700 acres of cropland under the local land office in the name of housing projects in Narayanganj district.

On receiving the petition, the HC on October 24, 2017, issued a rule, asking the authorities concerned to explain in two weeks why their inaction to protect the land, ponds, and canals in the Kajla Beel area should not be declared illegal. It also asked the environment secretary to submit a report before the bench after visiting the area.

An expert committee, formed by the environment ministry, submitted a report before the HC on November 29 last year, saying the housing projects were being built without the government’s environment clearance certificate. The report also said that the housing authorities were filling up the croplands illegally for the projects.

Later, in response to a supplementary petition, the HC on November 23, 2017, imposed a ban on the filling of the Kajla Beel area. It also fixed November 28 to hear a previous HC rule in this regard. After the hearing on the rule, the HC bench yesterday came up with the verdict. Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker and barrister Marium Khandaker appeared for the petitioners, while Barrister Fida M Kamal appeared for Rimjhim Police Town and Advocate Abdul Matin Mondal represented Italian City. Deputy attorney general Amit Talukder represented the state at the hearing.