BANDARBAN: A court in the district Wednesday imposed a temporary ban on tobacco cultivation in Bandarban, as national and multinational companies found a farming bonanza in the hills.

District joint-judge Shamsuddin Khaled passed the order, asking the district and upazila administrations, Officers-in-Charge of thanas, and forest and agriculture departments to explain within next seven working days why the farming “should not be banned permanently”.  

Besides, the court ordered initiating necessary steps removing the structures for cultivating tobacco.

The court also imposed embargo on going for contracts for farming tobacco, constructing dryer for drying, storing and preserving it, cutting trees illegally as well as burning them in the land of Bandarban.  

The court passed the order following a case filed by local journalists Alauddin Shahriar and Jafar Iqbal on August 16.
 
They claimed that in spite of being non-smokers, they are the sufferer for farming tobacco.

A number of multinational and local tobacco companies, including British-American Tobacco, Abul Khayer, Dhaka, Akiz, Nasir, New as Tobacco have been farming it.

Some 15,000 cultivators were involved in farming tobacco in Bandarban.

BDST: 2025 HRS. AUGUST 18, 2010