Modhumoti Model Town in Savar must be removed: SC

The Supreme Court has upheld its previous order, directing Modhumoti Model Town authorities to restore wetlands of Savar, where the private company had developed its housing project.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Thursday dismissed five review petitions against its earlier verdict.

On July 11, 2013, the Appellate Division of the apex court released the full text of its 159-page verdict directing Modhumoti Model Town owner Metro Makers and Developer Limited to restore within six months the wetland in Bilamalia and Bailarpur moujas of Savar where it has developed the project.

The company had developed the housing project filling in 550 acres of wetlands identified as floodplain in the 1997 Dhaka City Master Plan.

In September 2013, Metro Makers and Developer Limited and plot purchasers moved five separate petitions with the Supreme Court seeking review of its judgment.

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) challenged the project in the High Court on Aug 14, 2004 and the court on July 27, 2005 declared the project at Amin bazar unauthorised, illegal and against public interest. 

Builders Metro Makers, BELA and the plot buyers had separately moved the Appellate Division against the High Court order, which had set Mar 29, 2009 for hearing the appeals.