Hillside tragedies in Chittagong

Hillside landslides are not uncommon in many countries of the world but except in Bangladesh they are hardly a man-made phenomenon. Even to a layman's eye it becomes evident that the encroachment in the form of indiscriminate hill cutting in Chittagong in particular crosses all limits to induce landslips when rainfall is substantial. For some years now, such landslides in the port city have turned into an annual catastrophic event claiming lives. Ritualistic pledges are also made about taking measures in order to prevent loss of life. The city authorities have even got into the business of shifting human settlements from the foothills where danger of landslide lurks threateningly. But such programmes could not be completed in an organised manner. Poor people, who have nowhere to go, are compelled to stay at the foothills quite aware of the danger they are exposed to. It is because of this there is need for pre-monsoon evacuation of such families.

Last Sunday, Chittagong once again became witness to a hillside landslide that claimed three lives. In another incident of similar nature, a wall collapse caused by rainwater took three more lives. The wall collapse was triggered by rainwater that had no passage to drain out. When accumulated on account of filling its natural channel, rainwater gains strength and speed to carry along with it all obstructions before it. Houses built on slopes between two hills are particularly vulnerable to such powerful cascading streams. The authorities in Chittagong were callous not to pay attention to the filling up of the Chaktai canal. Mercifully though the mistake was realised later on and the canal has largely been recovered. However, more needs to be done.

A hill city is unique not only because of its panoramic view but also because of its geomorphologic location. The contours formed over centuries have their natural systems to drain out the excess rainwater from the hill tops. If too much manipulation is made with its physical structure, the changes can be self-defeating. Hills like the Batali Pahar in Chittagong have undergone extensive pillage at the hands of land-grabbers and others. Even denudation of a hill is a potential threat because the soil of a hill loosens in the absence of tree cover on it.

However, isolated and minimal encroachment by the port city's poor residents would not have turned living at the foothills so vulnerable. It is the commercial exploitation of hills and their resources that have actually made the matter worse. A few years ago, a pictorial story carried in a Bangla contemporary showed that an influential developer had illegally cleared a hilltop for construction of residential and recreational accommodation. Then there are others who cut hills to meet their need for land filling. At times the ravage goes too far to strike the heart of a hill. Taking advantage of unclaimed lands at the foothill, people with political connection construct shanties there for renting those out. These are known unapproved practices and if the authorities were serious about stopping all those, most of these man-made tragedies could be avoided. There is a need for strict enforcement of laws in order to bring an end to pillage and ravage of hills in Chittagong.