Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar: Hills razed to supply soil for LGED roadwork

The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has allegedly been using red soil from neighbouring hills for the construction of a one-kilometre road in Machkaria area of Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya upazila over the past two weeks.

Locals claimed the razing of hills began around two weeks ago, with the soil being used for road construction in broad daylight. They alleged that state agencies concerned, including the Forest Department and the Department of Environment, have yet to take any action, while villagers face intimidation for speaking out against the irregularities.

"LGED razed some three to four hills and used the soil, worth around Tk 30 lakh, instead of sand for road construction, apparently to cut costs. The authorities concerned have ignored the environmental damage despite protests from locals," said Abdul Haque, member of Ward-6 under Rajapalong union.

HM Ershad, president of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon's Cox's Bazar chapter, said, "Hill soil is easily identifiable due to its red colour. LGED engineers and the contractor are colluding to embezzle money by using hill soil instead of sand."

Contacted, Md Rokonuzzaman Khan, upazila engineer of LGED in Ukhiya, said the one-kilometre concrete road in Machkaria is being constructed at a cost of Tk 4 crore.

"Sand will be used after filling the base with four feet of soil. We do not know whether the contractor is using hill soil. Since red soil is being used, it might have been extracted by razing hills. We will send a letter to the contractor in this regard," he said.

Mohammad Asad, contractor of the project, claimed they had collected the soil from a subcontractor who extracted it from registered land, not from hills.

Md Shahinul Islam, range officer of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division (Ukhiya), said they received a complaint a few days ago and launched an investigation.

"We found an area where small hills were razed. Further investigation is ongoing," he said.