3 children killed as hill collapses on them

Three children died as part of a hill collapsed on them in a rubber plantation at Bhatara union of Moulvibazar's Kalaura upazila yesterday afternoon.

The dead were identified as Sumon Mia, 15, Nahid Ahmed, 14, students of Saiful Tahmina Alim Madrasa, and Abdul Kabir, 9, a student of Kabir Hossain Badrul Nurul Ibtedai Madrasa.

Quoting locals, Binoy Bhushan Roy, officer-in-charge of Kalaura Police Station, said the three had spotted baby birds at the foot of the Ghagrachhara hill and went there to catch them when a big chunk of the hill collapsed on them. He added that the hill was already weak as an organised syndicate had been extracting and selling mud from its base.

The children died on the spot, he said.

Safar Uddin, village council chief of West Islamnagar, said nearby locals rescued them and took them to Fenchuganj Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared them dead.

The victim families said, on top of hill-cutting, the soil was already soft due to rainfall yesterday morning.

ILLEGAL HILL CUTTING

Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan, said as per the Environment Conservation (Amendment) Act 2010, hill cutting is a cognisable offence and no one, even the government, semi-government or autonomous organisations are allowed to cut or raze hills without prior permission from the authorities concerned.

"But unfortunately, 'influential' people have been defying the law and destroying most of the hills in the union to sell soil. These acts often result in such dire accidents."

Locals also alleged that some people, in cooperation with a section of government officials, are involved in hill cutting.

"Many are exposed to landslides as homes and commercial establishments were constructed after cutting hills in unplanned ways…," Kim said.

Though the district administration is conducting drives, stricter measures are needed to stop this menace, he added

According to Bangladesh Environment Preservation Act 1995, as amended in 2000, cutting of hills without approval of the authorities concerned is prohibited.