The High Court on Wednesday imposed an eight-week injunction on the construction activities for a 1.6-kilometre road being built by the Municipality authorities in an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) along Cox’s Bazar sea beach.

A High Court Division bench comprising Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan passed the order following the preliminary hearing of a public interest litigation filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

BELA lawyer Rumana Sharmin told Daily Waadaa that the case was filed on August 30.

The court also issued a rule asking why the construction of the road by Cox’s Bazar Municipality and the failure of the relevant authorities to prevent it should not be declared contrary to public interest and illegal.

The court further asked why the authorities should not be directed to remove the portions of the road already constructed and restore the beach and its biodiversity.

According to BELA, the road is being constructed from Sugandha Point to Hotel Sayeman in an ECA and no-development zone. The project is being implemented under the Urban Development and Urban Governance Project with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

BELA alleged that a large area of the beach had been filled for the project and that long-established sand dunes, which serve as a natural barrier against coastal hazards, had been destroyed using excavators.

The construction has also damaged vegetation such as beach morning glory (sagar lata), as well as habitats of red crabs and other marine biodiversity, the organisation said.

BELA said the Supreme Court had previously issued several judgments and orders directing authorities to refrain from constructing structures in the ECA of Cox’s Bazar beach and to remove illegal structures. It filed the latest case seeking protection of the beach and challenging the municipality’s road construction despite those directives.

The respondents include the secretaries of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; the Local Government Division; the Ministry of Housing and Public Works; and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

The chairman of Cox’s Bazar Development Authority, director general of the Department of Environment, deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Cox’s Bazar, administrator of Cox’s Bazar Municipality, the district office of the Department of Environment and National Development Engineers (NDE) Ltd have also been made respondents.

Advocate Minhajul Haque Chowdhury represented BELA in the case, assisted by Advocates Hasanul Banna and Rumana Sharmin (Barrister-at-Law). Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared for the government.