THE pristine beauty and natural topography of hills and hillocks in Chattogram are under danger due to unabated hill razing by the profit mongers. Despite slapping fine by the Department of Environment (DoE), it becomes impossible to stop some business people from destroying the environment. The big business houses don’t bother to pay a small amount of fine. News media reported that Chattogram-based MH Group, Dhaka-based FR Refinery Pvt Limited and a tyre factory were found to have fenced off areas to raze the hills. According to the list prepared by the Chattogram DoE, six companies — Abul Khair Group, KSRM, PHP Float Glass Industries Limited, Golden Ispat, Elias Brothers (MEB bricks) and BSRM — had destroyed around 1,60,000 square feet of hills in Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas. The hills are government lands. But almost all of those have been preyed upon by the big companies while authorities concerned don’t take any tough action except fining them.
The DoE has two other options: conducting mobile courts if magistracy power is granted from the cabinet division and filing cases against the perpetrators in the environment court. But the companies have a lot of clouts and they use it to prevent further action from being taken. The hills stretching from Chattogram to CHT is responsible for 80 percent of biodiversity in the area. When hills are cut indiscriminately, nature loses its ecological balance. Big companies are entering remote areas of Chattogram and Hill Tracts by cutting hills to make ways for their business structures which is contributing to the drying up of streams and endangering lives of ethnic groups. The rampant hill cutting has also intensified the landslide incident in greater Chattogram in the recent days.
The problem is the government knows how to favour their greedy supporters to support the government. The wider the net of corruption the safer it is for the government. This is the theory borrowed not from the well-wishers of Bangladesh.
