New law likely soon to protect agricultural land

Rowshan Ara Mannan, a Jatiya Party lawmaker, placed the “Protection and Usage of Agricultural Land Bill, 2022” at the parliament on March 31 in a bid to ensure proper utilisation and protection of agricultural land across the country.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury sent the bill to the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture for examination and recommendations.

If this proposed bill is approved by the parliament, it will be considered a milestone to ensure the protection of the arable agricultural lands of the country, which has gradually been declining over the last four decades, said esteemed agriculturists of the country.

No agricultural land of the country can be used for purposes other than agriculture, says the bill. The land cannot be rented, leased or transferred for any commercial purposes other than agriculture, the bill added.

However, the provision of the bill would not apply to the construction of houses for private residences, graveyards, crematoriums, other places of religious burial and religious institutions.

The bill has a provision for the formation of a supervisory committee, which would be headed by the local Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNO) of respective upazilas, who will be responsible person to monitor and oversee the implementation of the law.

Any person violating any provision of the proposed law would face three-year imprisonment or a fine of Tk 50,000.

In case of construction of an industrial establishment such as factory, road, or any other facility on agricultural land, the supervisory committee would issue a notice and order its demolition.

The proposed bill also stipulates that no compensation will be paid for the demolition, regardless of what any other law may state.

Due to the rapid population growth, industrialisation, urbanisation and various other reasons, the amount of arable land in the country has been shrinking.

According to government data, agricultural land accounted for more than 65 per cent of the total land in 1980. Four decades later, in 2019, it came down to 59 per cent.

In 1980, the amount of single cropland was about 49.1 per cent of the total cultivable land. It dropped to 33.9 per cent in 1990, 34 per cent in 2000, 30.1 per cent in 2010 and 24.2 per cent in 2019.

A statement validating the purpose and reason behind the proposed bill states that the amount of agricultural land is decreasing by about 220 hectares every day due to unplanned construction of housing, factories, roads and other facilities. At present, the per capita agricultural land in the country is 14 decimals.

If this unplanned usage of agricultural land continues, the per capita land area is expected to fall to six decimals by 2041. Agricultural experts termed the declination of farmland “unusual”.