Sawmills need no licence!

According to the Forest Department, there are 571 sawmills in Chittagong city and district and no less than 530 of those lack legal documents.

However, unofficial sources said the number of illegal sawmills would be higher.

Sources said all the 60 sawmills in Kotwali thana in the city have no legal documents. Most of them are located along the banks of river Karnaphuli at Chaktai, Feeringi Bazar and Majhirghat. Timbers, smuggled through the riverine route, are often got different shapes and sizes in these sawmills and sold at higher prices.

Chandgaon thana has 39 sawmills. These are located on a vast area from Kalurghat Bridge to Kazirhat and running without proper permission here too. In Panchlaish thana, only one mill out of 28 has the license and the illegal mills here are located mainly at Bahaddarhat and Shulokbahar areas.

Meanwhile, the sawmill owners at Bandar thana, Pahartali thana, Lohagara, Boalkhali and part of Chakaria thana are also running their business without any legal documents or license, sources said.

So far legality or fair business is concerned, Patiya, Satkania, Chandanaish, Mirersarai, Raozan and Hathazari thana deserve some respect. In Patiya 17 out of 48 have license, nine out of 23 in Satkania, seven out of 26 in Chandanaish, six out of 48 in Mirersarai, five out of 33 in Raozan and two out of 25 in Hathazari.

The Forest Department, the lone authority to issue or cancel licenses, launched drive against the illegal owners several times and also cancelled few licenses.

But, the actions proved unsuccessful as most of those sawmills resumed their businesses within no time.

Sources said over 100 cases have been pending in this connection for long due to lackadaisical attitude of the department.

Moreover, unwanted lingering to dispose of the cases and connivance of some dishonest officials with mill owners are alleged to be the reasons behind the alarming rise of illegal sawmills.

"Due to harassment by some officials concerned we don't intend to have the licenses. The situation is all the same whether you have license or not since we have to keep happy those officials and police on regular basis," said an owner at city's Bahaddarhat area seeking anonymity.

A senior official at the Forest Department dismissed the allegations saying the owners used to resort to political leverage to get rid of the legal actions.