On June 11, 2007, as many as 127 people died following a landslide in the port city, however, the grim reminder of the tragedy still fails to act as a deterrent against razing and destroying hills of the port city.
Hill cutting is continuing unabated in the city at a time when the coronavirus pandemic should be seen as a wake-up call to rethink our relationship with natural ecosystems and shrinking biodiversity.
On June 1, the Department of Environment (DoE) fined two individuals with Tk28 lakh for levelling 28,000 cubic feet hills in the city.
On June 2, the DoE fined four individuals with Tk14.4 lakh in total for levelling hills in the city.
On June 9, the DoE fined two individuals with Tk50.6 lakh in total for flattening hills in Arefin Nagar and Foy’s Lake areas in the city.
Apart from individuals and private organizations, the state-owned agencies are also found levelling hills, posing a serious threat to the environment.
On February 12, the DoE fined Spectra Engineering Limited, a contracting firm, Tk5.23 crore for cutting hills at Sitakunda's Salimpur area.
The contracting firm illegally razed 92,700 square feet of hills in Salimpur while implementing a link road project undertaken by state-owned agency Chittagong Development Authority (CDA).
On January 29, the DoE has fined the CDA with Tk10.38 crore for cutting hills in excess of the approved limit and damaging biodiversity.
People’s Voice, a green platform, has demanded intensified drives to protect the remaining hills in the city.
“We have to keep in mind that hills once razed cannot be restored to its previous state. The DoE shirks its responsibilities with slapping fines on offenders,” said Sharif Chowhan, president of People’s Voice.
The tragic landslide of June 11, 2007, which killed 127 people prompted the formation of two committees which identified 28 reasons behind landslides during monsoon in Chittagong and put forward a 36-point recommendation to avert landslides.
Sharif claimed that not a single recommendation was implemented to avert further landslide in the city.
"Every landslide-related fatality triggers public outcry and subsequently probe committees are formed and submitted with recommendations. Sadly enough, the authorities concerned sink into oblivion following the fatalities while the recommendations too are rarely followed and eventually remain only on paper," said the activist.
“Encroachers blessed with political influence construct slums on government lands and rent them out to the people from a low-income background. Scores of people still continue to reside in the perilous settlements at the pockets, peaks, flanks and slopes of hills in the port city and its adjoining areas. Instead of evicting the slum dwellers, the administration should take severe action against the hill grabbers who construct the shanties illegally on the hill slopes,” Sharif added.
“Landslide-related casualties have become a permanent fixture during every monsoon in and around the city. However, the local administration has confined its activities to merely issuing customary warnings to the residents of landslide-prone hills to move to safer places. On some occasions, people living on hill slopes are evicted and utility connections are severed. But the evicted slum dwellers return to the risky hill slopes after a few days and the cat-and-mouse game continues every year without any exception,” said environmentalist Dr Edris Ali.
As per the Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act 2010, hill cutting is a cognizable offence and no government, semi-government, or autonomous organization is allowed to cut or raze hills without prior permission from the authorities concerned.
Under the terms of Building Construction Rules 1996, clearance certificate must be obtained from the Department of Environment for razing or cutting any hill.
According to urban planners, hills are mainly razed for building construction, developing residential areas and road networks.
The hills of the country are basically composed of unconsolidated sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone, shale and conglomerate.
The hills of the port city were formed in the early Cenozoic Era.
According to the Chittagong District Administration, there are 28 hills in the district which are vulnerable to landslides. The hills are owned by different government, autonomous, private organisations and individuals including Bangladesh Railway, Public Works Department, Chittagong Wasa, Chittagong City Corporation.
The district administration has so far listed 684 families who are living on these foothills.
