Environ dept stops work of 2 projects for hill cutting

CHITTAGONG, May 2: The Chittagong environment office has stopped work at two housing projects at Khulsi and arrested two persons for hill cutting today. Director (Enforcement) of the Directorate of Environment magistrate Munir Chowdhury led the drive against hill cutting and ordered the concerned government service providing agencies to suspend gas, power and water connections to the projects. The housing and development projects engaged in illegal hill cutting in the city's Khulsi area are Paharika Residential Area of Impulse Properties Ltd at South Khulsi and Lake View Residential Area at West Khulsi in the city. The Lake View Residential Area is reportedly a project undertaken by 14 physicians, it is learnt. During the raid the magistrate confiscated two trucks laden with soil, spades, crowbars, mixture machines and other instrument and arrested one Babul (manager) and foreman Ataur Rahman from the Lake View project. Magistrate Munir told the media that the workers have leveled a hill of 40 feet high for plots of five kathas at South Khulsi and 22 cubic feet of a hill at Lake View. - Our Correspondent