Illegal electric poles endanger forests, elephants

A total of 10,000 electric poles that were once erected to provide connections to thousands of illegal settlements inside forests, have now become a new peril to the forestlands across the country amid the rising deforestation caused by various types of encroachment.

The forest department said grabbing of forestlands has increased as electricity connections to illegal settlements have become easier. On top of that, electricity connections from these poles are being used to stop the movement of extremely endangered elephants in forests.

Twenty six elephants, according to the records of the forest department, have been killed using electric traps since 2026. The forest department conducted a survey in the forest area across Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Dinajpur in 2025, and traced 10,000 electric poles in these areas.

A highest of 5,717 poles of Palli Bidyut Samity have been installed across the Cox’s Bazar north forest division, followed by Dinajpur region with 2,067 poles, Chattogram south forest division with 962 poles and Chattogram coastal forest division with 725 electric poles.

Regarding this, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said, “I did not know about this. I will take action after looking into it.”

To get an electricity connection, any citizen must submit at least five documents to the respective power office. One of those documents is legal proof of land ownership. However, in illegal settlements established by occupying forest land, people are getting electricity connections without providing any legal ownership documents.

The forest department alleges that there has been no response from Palli Bidyut Samity and BPDB even though repeated letters have been sent to them to remove these poles.

When asked, chief conservator of forests of the Forest Department, Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, told Prothom Alo, “All the poles inside the forest are illegal. These poles are being used to provide connections to illegal occupants. Several times, local Divisional Forest Offices (DFOs) have written letters to general managers and deputy general managers of the Palli Bidyut Samity requesting them to remove these poles. The forest department filed a case against the GM of Palli Bidyut Samity in Ramu of Cox’s Bazar after an elephant was killed using an electricity connection from such a pole. Besides, this issue is regularly raised in district-level law and order meetings and development coordination meetings.”

He added that the removal of these poles was included in the meeting minutes of a meeting of the Cox’s Bazar district administration. Yet, the poles have not been removed.

When contacted, Md Shahidul Islam, member (planning and development) of BREB, told Prothom Alo, “There are many poor people in the country who do not own land. Our policy is that any Bangladeshi with a national ID card has the right to electricity.” However, claiming that they do not install poles where the Forest department objects, Shahidul Islam said, “The forest department has never made such complaints. We do not provide connections to houses inside the forest. Someone might illegally tap into the electricity, but we never provide such connections knowingly.”

Anwar Hossain Raju, assistant general manager of Palli Bidyut Samity in Lohagara upazila of Chattogram, told Prothom Alo, “I recently joined this office. How electricity connections have been given inside the forest will be investigated.” He said they had received a letter from the forest department requesting the removal of electric poles.

Md Yasin, panel chairman of Chunati union parishad in Lohagara upazila, told Prothom Alo that some officials of Palli Bidyut Samity have brokers. With their help, connections are given inside forests in exchange for large sums of money.

There are nearly 39,000 encroachers in the forests of Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar. Altogether, 49,000 acres of forest land have been illegally occupied in these two districts. On this occupied land, homes and various types of commercial plantations have been developed. To prevent elephants from roaming through or near these plantations, electric connections are used to set traps that kill the animals. According to the Forest Department, 26 elephants have been killed in this manner in Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram since 2016.

In a recent letter to BPDB, the forest department informed the former that setting up electric poles inside the forest is destroying its ecological integrity and disrupting the habitats and natural movement of wildlife. The letter also stated that these poles are being used to kill elephants.

When asked, Md Asaduzzaman, executive engineer of BPDB in Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar, told Prothom Alo, “We received a letter from the forest department raising objections regarding the electric poles. Following their objections, we disconnected electricity from two poles.”

Professor Md Kamal Hossain of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at University of Chittagong told Prothom Alo, “Access to electricity has created a competition to build houses inside forests. What is most concerning, especially in the Chakaria and Cox’s Bazar regions, is that several elephants have been killed using this electricity.”

“If electricity, roads, and water become easily accessible, no one will be able to stop illegal forest encroachments. The forest ecosystem will disappear, and wildlife movement will significantly decline,” he added.

Prothom Alo’s Correspondent, Lohagara, Chattogram contributed reporting.