Mudslide tragedy again strikes Chittagong
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
The port city of Chittagong has again become the scene of mudslide tragedy. This time it occurred at the foothill of Matijharna area in of Lalkhan Bazar. Ten people including six members of a single family were buried alive as a massive chunk of earth let loose by the impact of incessant rain flattened their shanty quarters. Another severely injured mudslide victim, who was rescued from under the mud by local people, died after he was taken to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Majority of the victims of the Matijharna mudslide of Chittagong this time were women and children. One may recall here that a similar but more devastating series of mudslides with higher death tolls took place at the Lebu Bagan, Kachiaghona and Kushumbag areas of Chittagong in June last year. The circumstances of this latest calamity in Chittagong are identical to the last year's case, for it was again torrential monsoon rain that caused the tragedy.
Understandably, the disaster, as before, has followed in the wake of torrential monsoon rains. That, in other words, means that the seriousness with which the case was dealt with by the government last year has lost its edge meanwhile. Otherwise, how could it be possible that people have again built temporary sheds at the base of hills, which have already turned naked due to erosion, loss of vegetation and cutting of earth from their sides. Who knows how many more such families have built their temporary sheds on the sides of other hills in Chittagong and risking their lives? A five-member probe body headed by the chief revenue officer of the Chittagong City Corporation is learnt to have been constituted to investigate the incident. Sadly though, our experience with such probe bodies is that they have seldom addressed the cause of these tragedies, let alone stop repetition of such calamities.
To say that repeated occurrence of mudslide in Chittagong is of natural origin, is, however, not the whole truth. In fact, decimation of the forests on the hillsides and cutting of earth on a massive scale have created the condition for the hills to become death traps for the people living below. So, one can say that the mudslides are part man-made and part natural. Therefore, the best way to prevent such tragedies is to stop people from damaging and deforesting the hills. Secondly, the quarters that make a business out of these poor and homeless people finding a shelter at the base of these hills have to be brought to justice.
The more distressing side of these tragedies in the hills is that people are putting up their shelters at such risky places, despite their previous knowledge of similar accidents in the past. To be frank, these homeless people have little option, but to live in such dangerous places.
In sum, if one goes deeper into the genesis of the human tragedies rooted in the Chittagong mudslides, one would have an idea of how acute the problem of housing in the country is and how desperate the people are about having a shelter at any conceivable place on earth. However, if one concentrates on the latest tragedy that struck the victims of the Motijharna Hossain Colony of Lalkhan Bazar in Chittagong, the callousness of the authorities concerned under whose very nose those homeless people built their thatched sheds at the foot of the already denuded hill and started living there would become obvious. Worse still, it has been allowed to happen in spite of last year's experience of the series of mudslides with attending deaths, injuries and suffering.
The injured and those affected in the latest mudslide in Chittagong should be provided with necessary medical aid, relief and shelter. At the same time, the authorities need to find out if there are other such risky settlements at the base of Chittagong hills and relocate their denizens to a new place.
Understandably, the disaster, as before, has followed in the wake of torrential monsoon rains. That, in other words, means that the seriousness with which the case was dealt with by the government last year has lost its edge meanwhile. Otherwise, how could it be possible that people have again built temporary sheds at the base of hills, which have already turned naked due to erosion, loss of vegetation and cutting of earth from their sides. Who knows how many more such families have built their temporary sheds on the sides of other hills in Chittagong and risking their lives? A five-member probe body headed by the chief revenue officer of the Chittagong City Corporation is learnt to have been constituted to investigate the incident. Sadly though, our experience with such probe bodies is that they have seldom addressed the cause of these tragedies, let alone stop repetition of such calamities.
To say that repeated occurrence of mudslide in Chittagong is of natural origin, is, however, not the whole truth. In fact, decimation of the forests on the hillsides and cutting of earth on a massive scale have created the condition for the hills to become death traps for the people living below. So, one can say that the mudslides are part man-made and part natural. Therefore, the best way to prevent such tragedies is to stop people from damaging and deforesting the hills. Secondly, the quarters that make a business out of these poor and homeless people finding a shelter at the base of these hills have to be brought to justice.
The more distressing side of these tragedies in the hills is that people are putting up their shelters at such risky places, despite their previous knowledge of similar accidents in the past. To be frank, these homeless people have little option, but to live in such dangerous places.
In sum, if one goes deeper into the genesis of the human tragedies rooted in the Chittagong mudslides, one would have an idea of how acute the problem of housing in the country is and how desperate the people are about having a shelter at any conceivable place on earth. However, if one concentrates on the latest tragedy that struck the victims of the Motijharna Hossain Colony of Lalkhan Bazar in Chittagong, the callousness of the authorities concerned under whose very nose those homeless people built their thatched sheds at the foot of the already denuded hill and started living there would become obvious. Worse still, it has been allowed to happen in spite of last year's experience of the series of mudslides with attending deaths, injuries and suffering.
The injured and those affected in the latest mudslide in Chittagong should be provided with necessary medical aid, relief and shelter. At the same time, the authorities need to find out if there are other such risky settlements at the base of Chittagong hills and relocate their denizens to a new place.