Hills razed for 30 real estate projects in Ctg

Chattogram city is losing its hills. The 80 or so hills that remain are increasingly under threat from real estate projects of influential businesses.      
Department of Environment (DoE) data shows that at least 30 real estate projects flattened hills in the port city over the last five decades.
Documents from the DoE and a study titled “Locational Analysis of Hill Cutting Areas in Chittagong City” reveal that housing projects destroyed the hills over 100 years. The study was conducted by Prof Edris Alam of Chittagong University’s geography and environment department in 2017.
According to a 2012 study titled “Hill Cutting in and around Chittagong City”, hills had covered 32.37 square kilometres across five zones of the city in 1976. However, by 2008, this area had shrunk to 14.02 square kilometres, found a research by SM Sirajul Hoque, a former professor at Chittagong University’s Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences.
This ongoing destruction poses a serious threat to the city’s environmental health. It is also triggering landslide and deforestation.
The green cover of Chattogram city dropped to 36.51 percent in 2020 from 68.34 percent in 1990, found a study by the Department of Geography and Environment at Dhaka University.
The study titled “Green space dynamics in response to rapid urbanisation: Patterns, transformations and topographic influence in Chattogram city” was authored by Sumaiya Siddique and Md Mahin Uddin — two then master’s students at the department.
Real estate projects have been implemented in Chandranagar, Green Valley-1 and -2, Rupnagar, Lake City, North Khulshi, CCC VIP Housing, South Khulshi, West Khulshi, Sandwip Colony, and Thandachari Colony areas.
Also, at least 23 housing colonies have been built after razing hills in Khulshi, North Pahartali, Akbar Shah and Bayezid Bostami areas.
Visiting Khulshi, Akbar Shah and Bayezid Bostami areas recently, this correspondent found that hills were levelled to construct buildings and walls.
At Rupshi Hill of West Khulshi, walls have been built encircling plots.
“The plot owners first construct walls so that they can build buildings dodging the officials of the local administration,” said a local, seeking anonymity.
Razing hills without permission from the DoE is punishable with up to two years’ imprisonment or a Tk 2 lakh fine under the Environment Conservation Act.
DoE officials said they have filed 34 cases against land owners for cutting hills over the last two years.
Rubaiyat Tahreem Sourav, assistant director of the DoE in Chattogram city, said they were taking action against the lawbreakers almost immediately after receiving complaints.
A CU study revealed that more than 400 port city residents died between 2000 and 2017 in landslides.
Cutting of hills contributes to landslides and waterlogging in the port city, said Mohammad Kamal Hossain, former professor of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science at CU.
“We should keep environmental health in mind while taking up development projects. Otherwise, our development initiatives will go in vain,” he said.
Md Mohi Uddin, a land owner at Shapla Residential Project in Akbor Shah area, faces a case filed by the DoE over razing hills.
Denying the allegation of cutting hills, he told The Daily Star, “I will fight the legal battle in court.”