Political thugs flatten Ctg Bayezid hills
Three decades ago, Bayezid in Chittagong city was an area of verdant small hills. Now a few mountains of earth, sticking out in the middle of a myriad of tin shacks, are all what is left, because of some locally influential people who have been razing the hills and selling the land to the landless people.
In the course of time, the hilly terrain has reduced to plain land and developed into Shantinagar Slum, sprawling over 26.91 acres of land and housing more than 10,000 people now. The illegal cutting and selling of the hills started in 1980s, and people exercising political clout took its helm alternately.
Today, this is Ilias Sarker, who claimed to be involved in the politics of Ward 43 Awami Jubo League, said some of the slum residents, requesting anonymity. He has been selling the hills since the immediate past Awami League-led government took office in January 2009, they told The Daily Star.
Ilias, however, denied all the allegations, saying that rather he resisted the land grabbers from cutting the hills and that the gabbers "branded" him as the hill cutter.
Meanwhile, the ward Jubo League general secretary, Shahidul Islam, said Ilias was in no way involved in the Awami League's youth wing; he was occupying the hills using the banner of Sheikh Russell Smriti Sangshad.
Residents of the area said Mobarak Ali, development coordinator for local lawmaker Mayenuddin Khan Badal, backed Ilias and his associates.
Talking to The Daily Star by phone, Mobarak said, “Though Ilias doesn't hold any post, he is an active Jubo league worker.... He also worked for me when I contested in the councilors' election in 2010.”
The destruction of the hills is already taking its toll. A woman was killed as a chunk of earth fell upon her while she was cutting a hill adjacent to her shanty on February 3, 2014. Besides, in October 2005, three children got killed in the same area in a similar collapse, said slum dwellers.
The situation gets more dangerous during the monsoon because of possible mudslides.
The slum residents said Ilias' father Md Shafiqul Islam, who had been once involved in the Awami League politics, was the first man who masterminded the sale of the hills.
However, AL President of Ward 43 Dalilur Rahman said Shafiqul had never been a member of the party; he always supported the party in power.
Locals said Shafiqul had led the whole affair until the slum residents formed an association, “Sholoshahar Bhumihin Bohumukhi Shomobai Samity Ltd”, in 1992, which has 574 members now. The association leaders then took control of the hill cutting, they added. Ilias took over again when the AL ascended to power in 2009, and has been controlling the illegal venture since then, they said.
Contacted, Mofizul Islam, the association's general secretary, said people started purchasing land in the area in the 1980s, but he denied any involvement.
Locals said Mofizul was once involved in BNP's politics, another claim denied by Mofizul.
However, Abu Musa, Jubo Dal convener of Bayezid thana unit, said Mofizul had attended a few programmes of the BNP, but he did not hold any post.
As in Bayezid, the hills of Tiger Pass, Lalkhanbazar, Salimpur, Matijharna, Batali Hill, Akbarshah residential area, Biswa Colony area, Foy's Lake residential area, Nasirabad Industrial area, and North Pahartali of the city are being razed in the same fashion by expanding slums.
This year, the hill management committee coordinated by the district administration has enlisted 30 hills including the aforementioned ones as risky in the city. In 2005, the district administration conducted a drive in the slum to demolish the structures, but to no avail, said locals and slum dwellers.
During the last caretaker regime, the authorities also attempted to evict the illegal settlers but could not succeed as the land grabbers and the slum dwellers jointly resisted the move.
While the destruction of the hills is going on in a flagrant breach of environmental law, the government agencies are passing blame onto each other.
Zafar Alam, director of the Department of Environment (DoE), Chittagong, said they were aware of the hill cutting. “As far as I know, the land is owned by the government and we haven't given permission to anybody to cut the hills. Those who are claiming and occupying the land have no valid documents.”
Asked why they did not take any action, he said they would contact the district administration about the ownership of the land and take action accordingly.
The Bangladesh Environment Preservation Act 1995 (amended in 2000) prohibits hill cutting without approval from the authorities. The punishment for the violator is up to two years of imprisonment or Tk 2 lakh fine, or both, for the first time. If the offence is committed for the second time, the law breaker can be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail or fined Tk 10 lakh or both.
SM Abdul Kader, additional deputy commissioner (revenue), said nobody could cut hills without approval, no matter who was the owner--the government or an individual. He said, “The DoE is authorised to take action against those who are cutting hills. So they should take strict action in this regard.”
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