Jaflong is a tourist spot in Sylhet division. It is about 60 km from Sylhet town and takes around a two hours drive to reach there. Jaflong is located amidst tea gardens and hills. It is situated beside the river Sari in the lap of Hill Khashia.
Stone extraction from the bed of the Goyain River at Jaflong
The land grabbers occupied government Khasiland and reserved forestland and extracted stone by cutting small hills polluting the environment of Jaflong. They also established crushing mills on the forestland without permission from the government.[5]
Forestation program
In early 2005, Laskar Muqsudur Rahman, Deputy Conservator of Forests of the Sylhet Forest Division, stated that in Jaflong during his childhood, the 'lungs' of Greater Sylhet were at stake due to ongoing encroachments and establishments of unauthorized stone crushing mills. He took initiatives to recover the land and establish a recreation-cum-botanical park named as 'Jaflong Green Park'. The first foundation stone for the thematic Green Park at Jaflong was laid by Laskar Muqsudur Rahman, Deputy Conservator of Forests in 2005 with the cooperation of local forest staffs led by Forest Ranger Mohammad Ali. Nonetheless, at the inception it was a challenging task due to local conflicts and procedural constraints. The forestation program in Jaflong Green Park has been started under supervision of the joint forces, Jaflong Foundation and Forest Department. They have jointly taken up the forestation program with about 100 hectares of grabbed land. Under the forestation program, various types of trees, including hybrid Akash-moni, are being planted in the park to maintain ecological balance.[6]