Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) in association with Bangladesh-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh-China Cultural and Economic Centre (BCCEC) and Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh organised the seminar held at CIRDAP, as per a local daily report. Prof Shahidul Islam, of Dhaka University’s Geography and Environment department, said construction of roads without taking preventive measures after cutting hills was a key reason behind this year’s landslides.
Landslide is considered as one of the key disasters around the world, but it is yet to be recognised as a “disaster” in Bangladesh. There is a need for forming a Hill Management cell for effective measures to control landslides. Long-term plans needed to be taken up by identifying risky hills, and unplanned development activities have to be stopped.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said Bangladesh achieved capability in disaster management. He, however, said the recent casualty from landslides was an unfortunate incident and called for carrying out development activities in hills, taking into consideration the protection of the environment.
Removing or decreasing the incidence of landslides is not rocket science. It is a very simple thing to plant trees in hillsides and ensure that hills are cut in a proper scientific manner which will be conducive to long term residential living and ensure that the living spaces like houses will not suffer due to environmental degradation.
However the reality is harsh. Unscruplous land grabbers have no mercy on the hills and cut them in haphazard ways to make quick money by renting out the hillsides to the poor or ultra poor. They make shabby huts which would probably not last even a minor earthquake and the poor live there as they don’t have the economic capability to live elsewhere.
If only the administration thought of them as proper citizens and tried to ensure their housing instead of only looking after civil servants we would be able to take care of their need to get affordable housing. The poor already pay more money for basic utilities as research into the living conditions at slums like Korail have shown. They pay much more per unit of utilities like water and electricity than a rich person living at Banani or Baridhara — just because our utility companies are too lazy to give them services.
If only the administration would think that their lives matter the unscrupulous hill cutting would stop and the deaths of the poor averted. Unfortunately this will not stop as no long term plans have been undertaken which will preserve the lives of the ultra poor.
