A vested quarter of government officials has already grabbed 51 acres of reserved forest and started cutting the hills in the area, said Fazlul Kader Chowdhury, convener of Cox's Bazar Bachao Andolon (Campaign for Saving Cox's Bazar).

As there is legal barrier in the use of any land of reserved forest, the officials are constructing the structures in the pretext of 'leasing' the land, he said, adding that there is no provision for leasing out any forestland.

In a bid to stop destruction of forestland, environmentalist working at Cox's Bazar filed writ petitions in the High Court (HC) against the officials concerned as the local police was unwilling to file case against the top ranking government officials.

The illegal construction was temporarily stopped due to a stay order of HC, Chowdhury said.

But as the civil rights are now postponed due to state of emergency, the vested quarter has got a free hand to continue their construction, he added.

In view of the importance of reserved forest for the area, the government in 1995 termed it 'ecological critical area', but the local administration did not take any measure in this regard, said Chowdhury.

Sharmina Reshmin, Muazzem Hossain Shakil, Saiful Islam Chowdhury, Mahidul Haque Khan, Syeda Rezwana Hasan, Aminur Rasul Babul and Abul Kashem also spoke at the press conference organised by Cox's Bazar Bachao Andolon at Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium in the city.