Jhinuk Begum, a mother of three children, is in a nail-biting situation as she fears that the little tin-shed hut she lives in at the foot of a hill in Bandarban might go beneath mud anytime with landslides being a frequent occurrence in the area lately.

Two adjacent huts were buried under mud when a chunk of soil fell on them just two days ago, Jhinuk, who earns her livelihood by working as a domestic help, told this correspondent.

Jhinuk is a resident of Islampur, a neighbourhood where some 500 families live. The area is preferred by low-income people for low rentals.

Lungi Para, Banorupa Para, New Gulshan, Kalaghata, Kashem Para, Lemu Jiri, and Islampur are among areas most vulnerable to landslides. Every year, local administration calls on the residents to move to safe places during monsoon but they hardly pay heed.

Members of a family pose in front of their house built on loose earth at a barren hilltop in the area. Photo: Sanjoy Kumar Barua

“This is because there is no place to go,” said Jhinuk. “Despite being aware of the risks, me and my family are yet to make any decision. Because where do we go now?”

Similar statement came from Kulsum Akhter of Banorupa Para.

One Menpong Mro, 25, of Cramadi Para of Bandarban Sadar upazila, died when a chunk of soil fell on him while he was working on his Jhum field on July 13.

The next day, in Bandarban’s Lama upazila, Nurjahan Begum, 70, was killed when a chunk of mud from a hill collapsed on her house in Madhujiri area.

Her son and his wife were also injured and admitted to Lama Upazila Health Complex. Incessant raining triggered the landslide.

In 2018, landslides killed 11 people in Rangamati and seven people in Bandarban. The numbers were much higher the previous year when massive landslides snatched lives of about 117 people in both the districts. Rangamati had the highest number of casualties at 110, including 33 women and 35 children.

Bandarban Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Noman Hossain said, “We have urged the residents several times to evacuate the hills but they didn’t do so.”

When asked about what could be a sustainable solution to this menace hitting the area every monsoon, he said, “A few weeks ago, we chalked out plans to build two shelter houses. The DC office has already sent the proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office.”

Regarding the project, Shafiul Alam, additional deputy commissioner (revenue) of the district, said, “We started the work but could not continue it because of the usual complicacies plaguing the hills.”

“Those who have been living on the hills for ages are unwilling to leave their ancestral homes.”

However, Jumlian Amnai, president of Parbatya Chattogram Forest and Land Rights Protection Movement (Bandarban chapter), said the vulnerable ones are mostly Bengali settlers who do not know the techniques to survive on hills.

“The settlers cut hills indiscriminately whereas the indigenous people build houses on higher surfaces using bamboos and special techniques to stay safe from landslide likely to occur in monsoon,” he said.

Jumlian observed that building shelter homes only might not be the ultimate solution. “Why would these people leave their homes and start living at a remote place if not given guarantee of food and work,” said the activist.

Indiscriminate hill cutting and construction of rickety huts at the foothills are two major factors that put about 35,000 people under risks of landslide during monsoon, according to the local administration.

During a visit to the area a few weeks ago, this correspondent found poor people living in the rickety huts, oblivious to the risks of landslide.

“There are people with political links who grabbed hills and built shanties there to rent them out to the low-income people,” said Bandarban Sadar UNO Noman Hossain.

“The district administration has not taken any visible step to prevent the influential locals from building houses by cutting hills. It has not taken any action against the land grabbers,” said an official of Bandarban DC office, wishing not to be named.