A bill seeking steps for proper use and protection of the agricultural land in Bangladesh was placed in parliament on Thursday.
Opposition Jatiya Party lawmaker Rowshan Ara Mannan placed the bill named 'Agricultural Land (Appropriate Use and Conservation) Bill-2022 with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.
Placing the bill, the opposition lawmaker of women reserved seat-47 told parliament that the enactment of the bill was necessary for the protection of farm land; otherwise the country in future will face severe shortage of food.
According to the bill, Bangladesh is losing an average of 220 hectares of agricultural land each day due to establishment of industrial units, construction of roads and unplanned housing.
Presently, per capita agricultural land is 14 per cent and it will reduce to 6.0 per cent in 2041 unless unplanned use of land is stopped.
After the bill was tabled in parliament, it was sent to the parliamentary standing committee concerned for further scrutiny.
The country is losing approximately 68,700 hectares of arable land every year --mostly for housing and industrialisation, according to the data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) from 2015.
