Landslide and the human factor
Friday, 18 June 2010
A very simplistic explanation is being put forward that last Tuesday's landslides at Bandarban and Cox's Bazar were caused entirely by natural factors like torrential rains, leading to a softening and loosening of the soil. But such an easy explanation cannot quite hide the fact that the hilly areas of the country such as Chittagong, Sylhet and parts of Mymensingh have become vulnerable to such tragic incidents from sheer human activities over the years. First of all, the fast breeding population of the country is more and more compelling people in large number to seek some kind of accommodation in marginal lands or areas that their ancestors had considered as not suitable for living. People are seen building homes even in seriously flood-prone lands and beneath or on tops of hills. Until this migration into hazardous areas is stopped and discouraged effectively, these types of fatalities in human lives will continue to be witnessed. The government and local authorities certainly have a role in the matter. There should have been policies going ever since the first appearances of landslide at least eight years ago. But the lack of care, despite clear indications that the hilly areas are becoming increasingly dangerous for human habitation, has led to this state of high risks for people who continue to live in growing number in these places.
In the past natural barriers to landslide existed such as shrubs and trees on the bodies of the hills that held the soil together and prevented the same from loosening up. There were also rocks and boulders that served the same purpose. Any run-off of rain or flood waters on the hills used to be controlled and halted that spared the soil from any tearing effects. But the hills have been denuded for a long time. Human presence on them and their sides has meant wanton clearing of vegetation, trees and forests. Besides, human greed led to shaving off hills or cutting hills which made the hills more vulnerable to landslide. There are regulations prohibiting hill-cutting. But the regulations are ignored by locally influential persons and those who have set up the business of hill-cutting to supply earth for various types of works all over the country. People in tens of thousands are living in seriously risky conditions. There are no reasons to think that the latest incidents of landslide are the last ones. There are genuine apprehensions of more landslides of the same or worse nature occuring in these areas if regulatory and restoration activities are not truly set into motion or speeded up.
A technical committee was formed after a similar landslide in Chittagong in 2007 that took 150 lives. The committee's recommendations after a careful scrutiny of the conditions were for reforestation of the hills and resettlement of vulnerable people in safe areas. But the situation, as it exists in these areas, has hardly changed. Rather, it is observed that the risks to people have only further increased from not carrying out with any seriousness the recommendations made by the technical committee.
Therefore, what should be on the cards for immediate implementation is the task list drawn up by the technical committee. Local government authorities, supported by close monitoring and supervision from the top, must take the lead in this matter.
In the past natural barriers to landslide existed such as shrubs and trees on the bodies of the hills that held the soil together and prevented the same from loosening up. There were also rocks and boulders that served the same purpose. Any run-off of rain or flood waters on the hills used to be controlled and halted that spared the soil from any tearing effects. But the hills have been denuded for a long time. Human presence on them and their sides has meant wanton clearing of vegetation, trees and forests. Besides, human greed led to shaving off hills or cutting hills which made the hills more vulnerable to landslide. There are regulations prohibiting hill-cutting. But the regulations are ignored by locally influential persons and those who have set up the business of hill-cutting to supply earth for various types of works all over the country. People in tens of thousands are living in seriously risky conditions. There are no reasons to think that the latest incidents of landslide are the last ones. There are genuine apprehensions of more landslides of the same or worse nature occuring in these areas if regulatory and restoration activities are not truly set into motion or speeded up.
A technical committee was formed after a similar landslide in Chittagong in 2007 that took 150 lives. The committee's recommendations after a careful scrutiny of the conditions were for reforestation of the hills and resettlement of vulnerable people in safe areas. But the situation, as it exists in these areas, has hardly changed. Rather, it is observed that the risks to people have only further increased from not carrying out with any seriousness the recommendations made by the technical committee.
Therefore, what should be on the cards for immediate implementation is the task list drawn up by the technical committee. Local government authorities, supported by close monitoring and supervision from the top, must take the lead in this matter.