Degradation of hills

What caused landslide
deaths in Chittagong?

Shampa Biswas

Since hills constitute the complex and interdependent ecology of the planet, they are the most sensitive to climate changes. It is difficult to assess the extent of illegal hill cutting and construction work in Chittagong. Hill cutting is going on in spite of strict restrictions. There are no initiatives to stop the illegal construction work. This illegal activity not only hampers ecological balance but also endangers urban environment. Because of their vertical dimensions they create change of temperature and precipitation.
   
   Land degradation
   Hundreds of hills add to the beauty of Chittagong city and its surrounding areas. Indiscriminate cutting of hills posed a threat to the ecological balance of Chittagong city. Chittagong possesses an unspoiled beauty of nature gifted with hills and vegetation that attract tourists and visitors. The area of the Chittagong metropolitan city is 60 square miles. Among them, 30sq miles are hilly area, five per cent of the hill peaks are filled with multistoried government, private offices and residences; five per cent of hills are bare without forest and unutilized and rest 20 per cent hills are under ownership private organizations.
   Hill cutting has become a matter of grave concern as it has already become a big business there. Hills are cleared through excessive cutting for 24 hours a day. A section of influential people, including contractors, cut away earth from hills or hillocks of the city everyday.
   
   Loopholes in law
   Court sources said, "A total of 62 cases have been filed with different police stations of the city against the hill cutters during the last 14 years. They said that 16 of the accused have been punished in separate cases on different occasions during the period, but they always came out of jail, taking advantage of loopholes of the law. Many people died due to landslides of hills.
   Every day hill cutters earn a huge amount of money. Experts say that the law enacted in 1986 has certain loopholes that encourage a section of influential people -- in collusion with some officials in the administration -- to continue their illegal trade.
   Surprisingly, cutting or razing of hill is permissible on fulfillment of five conditions:
   (1) cutting or razing of hill shall not cause any serious damage to any hill, building structure or land adjacent to or in the vicinity of the hill; or
   (2) cutting or razing of hill shall not cause any silting of or obstruction to any drain, stream or river; or
   (3) cutting or razing of hill is necessary to prevent the loss of life or property; or
   (4) cutting of hill which is normally necessary for construction of dwelling house without causing any damage to hill; or
   (5) cutting or razing hill is necessary in the public interest.
   Population is growing and so there is demand for croplands and houses. So residents are invading the hills and cutting the trees for housing. But the law has been reduced to merely a paper due to corruption and lenient attitude of the administration.
   
   92 hectares
   Furthermore, Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) attributes its shortcomings to shortage of manpower, non-cooperation from police and pressure from political leaders and musclemen. Besides, hill cutters play their role from behind the scene sending day labourers to cut hills, keeping police at bay. About 190 acres of hilly lands was damaged by demolished during the past 10 years.
   The adverse impact of hill cutting is evident inside the centre of Chittagong city. In this case, one problem is the extension of Chittagong city, which is 92 hectares per year on average by cutting hills. Chittagong city has got at least 12 points where hill cutting is going on unabated. The areas are Oxygen, Nasirabad, Polytechnic Institute, Shershah Colony, Shahinagar, Hamjarbagh, Roufabad, Fatayabad, Zakir Hossain Road, Esdnagar, Khulsi and Foy's Lake. Sixty per cent of the city's hill areas, including Khulsi and Nasirabad, have already turned into residential areas. The hills of Lalkhan bazar, Motijharna, Pahartoli, Debpahar, Oxygen, Nasirabad, Rubigate Politechnic and Bayzid Bostami area are at stake due to cutting of soil of hills and tilas. All flora and fauna are becoming endangered in those hills. The soil of Chittagong is loose, so site impacts are caused easily on the hills due to excess water of rainy season and land degradation occurs.
   Large amount of sand are cut for brick making during rainy season because sand remains soft at that time. Lalkhanbazar and Batali Hill are in the centre of the city where illegal hill cutting is continuing all the year round.
   The names of hills that have been cut for Asian Highway development work are Chunti of Lohagora thana of Chittagong, Aziznagur, Harbang, Baraitali, Fasiakhali, Dulhazara, Khuntakhali at Chokoria thana under Cox's Bazar zila, Noapara and Napitkhali of Cox's Bazar. Forests, tilas and hills of Lama thana of Bandarban zila have become flat land. Brickfield owners are cutting small hills of north Chittagong illegally for brick making that leads to land degradation, land slides as well as fragile ecosystem of Chittagong. Hill of Rangunia and some tilas of Comilla Lalmai hillock were completely shrunk and degraded by hill cutting.
   
   Soil survey
   According to a soil survey report, the hills of Bandarban are vulnerable to land degradation and land slide. Majority of Bandarban's hills are 450 steep. Only 5 per cent hills are very steep, 35 per cent are steep, 20 per cent hills are medium-steep and 40 per cent are less steep. Meanwhile, about 100 acres of reserve forests are completely cleared Forest depletion, stone extraction from hill and hill cutting are responsible for landslide due to heavy rainfall.
   Big hills (300ft high and 200ft long) were converted to two natural lakess around 50 acre area at Charuipara near Bandarban city. Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board has taken initiatives to build this lake. Due to heavy rain fall, the layers of hills are broken and mixed with small rivers and streams and create overspreading of landslide that were not seen before in CHT. Local people say that thousands of hill dwellers of risky Bandarban hill should be rehabilitated. More than a hundred people died due to landslide after since 1990.
   The environment of Cox's Bazar has become hazardous due to indiscriminate hill cutting, extraction of boulder from hills and forest depletion. The flow down of hill during the rainy season and coming down of sand has been filling up the Matamuhuri and the Bakkhali rivers. As a result, 4,000,000 people face flood in Chokoria and Cox's Bazar. Among 100,000 ha forest of Cox's Bazar, more than half the hills are without forests. According to environmentalists, environ-mental hazards are increasing due to bareness of hills in Cox's Bazar forests.
   For a long time, some influential people are selling stone at Teknaf after extraction from hill. The forest-covered hills of the tourist city, Cox's Bazar will become extinct in the future.
   Destruction of hills affects the flora and fauna of the area, which in turn has an effect on the food chain. Indiscriminate destruction of hills has a direct impact on the lithosphere, leading to floods, water- logging, change of weather, increase in temperature and storms, landslides etc. The biosphere suffers extinction of rare spices, destruction of biodiversity, spread of diseases; some of the immediate effects on the environment are deforestation, reduction in the fertility of the soil, and damage to life and property due to landslides.
   The indiscriminate hill cutting has been gradually causing some other environmental damages and adverse soil erosion.
   Hill cutting has made 100 hills vulnerable to landslide, putting lives of people at risk. The flow of the Karnaphully river, Chaktai canal and Halda have been decreasing due to storage of soil of hill cutting. Due to impact of hill cutting and storage of sand and clay, the Karnafuly river and estuary of the Bay of Bengal are losing navigability.

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