The Mainamati-Lalmai hillocks on the campus of Comilla University are inexplicably being razed for a long time. Currently another hillock is being destroyed in order to house a Teacher's Club and a Guest House.
Much to the dismay of students and environmentalists, the hillocks are being ravaged by large machines without permission from the Department of Environment (DoE).
According to Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 (amended in 2000), cutting hills without approval from the environment authorities is prohibited.
On a field visit, this correspondent saw that some parts of the hillocks were unlawfully cut away for constructing the building and even the scrap soil was being used to level the carpeting of the structure, which raises fears of sudden landslides.
The students –who used to proudly call the campus "Laal Pahari"– said they were frustrated over the university authority's decision of demolishing one hillock after another.
The agitated students said even a few days ago the university had cut hills to establish a students' dormitory and manage space for holding the first ever convocation of the university.
Not only that, a road was built by collecting soil illegally from the hills. If these incidents continued to happen they would soon call for protests to save the hills, the students have said.
Over a hundred tractors were also seen carrying soil from the hillocks out of the campus, they said, adding that they feared landslides would occur on the campus as a result of such activities.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Md Nazrul Islam, inspector of DoE's Comilla office, said the department had not known about the matter earlier.
"We will inspect the area and take action soon," he said.
Jahangir, a contractor with the project, said if additional soil was needed, it was taken from the depths of the hillocks.
This correspondent tried to contact SM Shahidul Hasan, interim engineer of the University's Engineering Department, but he was found unavailable at his office. He did not respond to phone calls either.
Dr Md Abu Taher, registrar of the university, said: "We spoke to the engineers and sent them to inspect the area. They said no hillocks were being razed at the university."
