Rampant hill cutting increases landslide risks

Despite a government ban, illegal hill cutting is rampant in the hilly areas of Moulvibazar.

Villagers under Barlekha, Kulaura, Sreemangal, Juri and Rajnagar upazilas, which are mostly hilly, are passing days in fear of landslides as the rainy season approaches.

“Incidents of landslide happen every year during the rainy seasons due to illegal hill cutting,” said Abdul Mannan, a farmer of Dimai village under Barlekha.

“The entire road from Dimai Bazar to Barlekha was blocked due to a landslide last year. We continue to live in fear of landslides,” said Tapan Das, a villager under Juri.

According to green activists, unabated hill cutting is posing a serious threat to the natural environment and biodiversity of the area.

Many powerful individuals cut hills in the name of development work, houses and business establishments, ignoring existing environmental laws and defying ban by the Department of Environment (DoE), they added.

All these people have made the hills a death trap where landslide claims lives on a regular basis.

Though the district administration is conducting drives, strict measures are needed to stop this menace, said Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, Sylhet chapter.

He said despite drives by the administration, influential locals continue to raze hills and extract stones in the area.

Contacted, SM Abdullah Al Mamun, UNO of Barlekha upazila, said they are conducting drives against hill cutting.

He said the administration on Thursday fined two persons a total of Tk 55,000 in Daulatpur area under Barlekha upazila for cutting hills. They were identified as Abdul Jalil, a resident of Daulatpur village, and Dinar Hosain, a resident of Banikuna village.

“Some unscrupulous people are cutting hills to dig out stone, while some are leveling it for housing plots,” he said.

Muhaimin Milton, general secretary of Moulvibazar Environmental Journalists' Forum, also emphasised the need for a stringent law and its implementation.

Contacted, Mostafizur Rahman, assistant director of DoE, said cutting of hills is illegal and it creates a bad impact on the environment. “But, we are struggling to tackle the menace due to a manpower shortage. We have written to the authorities regarding the issue.”

“People should be made aware of the consequences of razing hills,” said Tofail Islam, deputy commissioner of Moulvibazar. “If they inform us about illegal hill cutting, we will take action right away.”