The eight-week injunction puts a 1.6-kilometre beach road project under scrutiny over dune removal, environmental safeguards and compliance with earlier court directives.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, has welcomed the Bangladesh High Court’s order halting road construction on the sand dunes of Cox’s Bazar sea beach, describing it as a timely step to protect one of the country’s most fragile coastal ecosystems.
In a statement shared on professional networking platforms on Monday afternoon, the UN expert praised the court for intervening to protect Cox’s Bazar, which she described as the world’s longest unbroken natural sea beach and a legally designated Ecologically Critical Area (ECA). She said such legal status demands the highest level of protection from the state.
Puentes Riaño said large-scale infrastructure projects in ecologically sensitive areas must be preceded by thorough, independent and participatory environmental, social and human rights impact assessments, along with a proper evaluation of climate risks. Such safeguards, she stressed, are fundamental responsibilities of the state rather than discretionary formalities.
She also commended the environmental and human rights organisations that brought the matter before the court, saying their efforts demonstrated the importance of access to justice in protecting both communities and ecosystems that have little or no voice in decision-making processes.
What the court ordered
The High Court bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan passed the order on September 2, imposing an eight-week injunction on all activities related to the construction of a roughly 1.6-kilometre road from Sugandha Point towards Sayeman Beach Resort.
The road section lies within the Ecologically Critical Area of Cox’s Bazar beach, where environmentally damaging activities are subject to restrictions. The area is also designated for tourism, making the construction a matter of concern for environmentalists and experts.
The court also issued a rule asking why the road project, and the failure of the relevant authorities to stop its construction, should not be declared illegal. It further sought an explanation as to why the portions of the road already constructed should not be removed and the affected site restored.
The eight-week injunction puts the project on hold while the court considers whether construction in the protected coastal area violated existing legal and environmental safeguards.
Why the case reached court
The order came after the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) filed a public interest litigation challenging the road construction.
Separately, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a contempt petition, alleging that the construction violated a 2011 High Court directive requiring the authorities to preserve the natural features of Cox’s Bazar beach and remove structures built on its sand dunes.
The legal challenge therefore goes beyond the question of whether a new road should be constructed. It also raises questions about whether earlier judicial orders and environmental protections were adequately enforced by the relevant authorities.
Dunes flattened for the road
According to BELA, sand dunes that had long served as a natural coastal barrier were flattened with excavators to make way for the road.
The project is being implemented under the Urban Development and Governance Project with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Construction proceeded despite the earlier court directive and prompted sustained protests from environmentalists and experts.
The dunes are not simply stretches of loose sand. They form part of the beach’s natural defence system, helping buffer the coastline against erosion, waves and storm surges. Environmentalists have warned that removing them could weaken the coast’s natural protection and increase its vulnerability to climate-related hazards.
The dispute also highlights a broader challenge facing Cox’s Bazar: how to balance tourism and infrastructure development with the protection of a highly sensitive coastal ecosystem already recognised as environmentally critical.
Respondents in the case include the secretaries of the ministries of environment, local government, housing, and civil aviation and tourism, as well as the chairman of the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority, the director general of the Department of Environment, the Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police and the municipality administrator, among others.
The contempt proceedings have also been adjourned for eight weeks, alongside the injunction on construction activity.
The court’s intervention now places the project under judicial scrutiny and raises a fundamental question for coastal development in Bangladesh: whether infrastructure should be allowed to replace natural coastal defences in areas that the state itself has legally recognised as environmentally critical.
