Little progress in cases against hill cutters in Ctg

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Chittagong, Aug 24: There has been very little progress in the cases filed with the court against hill cutting by the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) and Department of Environment.

The final reports of only 5 cases out of 44 filed by the CDA have been submitted to the court during last 2 year. As no one so far has been punished in those cases, the unhealthy trend of cutting hills continues.

On the other hand, as many as 20 cases filed by the Department of Environment. Sources said that chargesheets of all 20 cases have been submitted but due to a prolonged crisis of judges in the Environmental Court, these are still lying unsettled for long.

According to the concerned sources, maximum incidents of hill cutting have taken place at Khulshi, a posh area of the city.

In connection with the 5 cases filed by the CDA, the whereabouts of the guilty parties could not be traced. The rest 39 cases are still under investigation in the respective thanas, a process the law enforcers have not yet been able to finish in last two years.

Conscious quarters apprehend that as no drastic measure has yet been taken and the culprits go unpunished, illegal hill cutters are encouraged to carry on their nefarious activities causing a serious shift in the ecological balance.