Railway must take better care of its hills

Despite the well-documented risks of cutting or compromising the integrity of hills in Chattogram, it is disheartening to see this continuing to happen due to a lack of proper interventions from the authorities. According to a report by this daily, over 3,000 illegal structures have been constructed on nine hills owned by the Bangladesh Railway in various parts of the city. It is well-known that building such structures increases the risk of deadly landslides. Yet, over 5,500 people currently reside on these state-owned hills, while the latter are being subjected to degradation in various ways. Clearly, those enabling and profiting off of this risky venture, including politically connected individuals and corrupt government officials, care little about the danger residents face.

As per a study, some 400 people have been killed in landslides in Chattogram between 2000 and 2017. Subsequent years have seen little improvement in this scenario. The question is: Why are the authorities failing to prevent this? Just last month, two people died in a landslide at the Soloshohor Hill, where people are still living. This is partly because of a general lack of awareness, and partly because of the increasingly high house rent in other areas which drove many families to such informal settlements in landslide-prone areas. Reportedly, several syndicates of powerful individuals in collusion with corrupt government employees are responsible for the construction of these buildings, violating relevant laws.

Similarly, land grabbers have been inflicting irreversible damage to the environment and biodiversity of hills under the nose of the local administration. Over the past 40 years, according to an estimate, some 120 hills have been lost in the port city. If the trend continues, we dread to think what will become of this still environmentally rich region. Experts have long blamed corruption and political interference for the lack of effective measures to stop the practice of hill razing. This must stop. We urge the authorities to undertake stern measures, including regular drives, to take down risky structures and rehabilitate residents, and also punish those responsible for this situation.