A 5-year-old boy was killed in a landslide triggered by incessant rains in Moheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar yesterday.
The deceased was identified as Robiul Hossain, 5, son of Nazir Hossain Prakash Badu from the village of Kalarmarsora in the upazila.
Quoting locals, Moheskhali police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdul Hai said debris fell on the child while he was playing in the rain by a hill near his home yesterday afternoon .
The union council had earlier warned people about the landslide, yet these incidents happen unexpectedly due to a lack of awareness, Local UP Chairman Tariq bin Osman Sharif said.
On Saturday, four more people were killed in another landslide in Chittagong.
According to the Chittagong district administration, there are communities at the foot of 26 hills in and around the port city. Nearly 365 installations have been identified as extremely dangerous, and their eviction has been ordered.
Data from the Cox’s Bazar Forest and Environment Conservation Council show that there are at least 12,000 families who are living on sloping foothills with an elevated risk of landslides.
Cox’s Bazar is a highly landslide-prone zone of the country, especially during the monsoon season. The biggest tragedy from a landslide in the district occurred on June 15, 2010, when 54 people died, including six army personnel, said Md Junayed, general secretary of the Forest and Environment Conservation Council, as quoted by UNB.
Even last year, landslides from these hills killed 14 people, he said.
“About 7,000 families in Cox's Bazar city and its suburbs and another 5,000 families in different hilly areas of the district are living at imminent risk to their lives, though the official figure might not address them,” said Md Junayed.
Populated landslide-prone areas of Cox’s Bazar include Lighthouse, Saikat Para, Mohazer para, South Ghonar Para, Badshah Ghona, Baiddo Ghona, Madhyam Ghonar Para, Pahartali, Kalatali Adarsha Gram, Jharijharikua, and the Link Road area.
Despite the risk of landslides, the population in highly risky areas such as Khurushkul, Maheshkhali, Ramu, Teknaf, and Ukhiya has doubled in the last three years.
According to the Cox's Bazar South Forest Department, 3,525 families are living in high-risk conditions in the forests under the Southern Forest Division. Data from the North Forest Department of Cox's Bazar shows there are at least 25 high-risk settlements inhabited by about 800 families.
Md Mamunur Rashid, deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, said: “Of the 12,000 families 5,000 are living in highly risky areas for landslides. We are prepared to evacuate them immediately if heavy rainfall occurs.”
Helal Uddin Kabir, mayor of Cox's Bazar municipality, said that every year from the beginning of the monsoon season, initiatives are taken to evacuate people living in the high-risk zones of hills.
“Similarly, necessary steps have been taken this year also. We have to work together to prevent the illegal occupation of the hills and the indiscriminate erection of settlements,” he said.