Does end justify the means?

There's little doubt about the nobility of the Ashrayan-2 housing project. Under the project, houses will be constructed and handed over to destitute families as the prime minister's gift, allowing them to live in comfort.

However, when the project is undertaken by allegedly violating environmental rules, question arises whether it could have been done any other way, without harming nature.

In Chattogram's Anwara upazila, the district administration is at it constructing houses under the project by razing a 50-60 feet high hill.

Locally known as "Deyang Pahar", the hill is located in Hajigaon area of Barkhain Union.

The hill is being razed for the last one and a half months. When this correspondent visited the area recently, he saw it was being cut off with an excavator, with the soil being taken elsewhere on trucks.

Around 50 houses of the Ashrayan-2 project have already been built, with locals further alleging that at least 1,000 trees have been cut down in the area to implement the project.

According to the Bangladesh Environment Preservation Act 1995, cutting of hills is prohibited without approval from the authorities concerned. If anyone breaks the law, the punishment is up to two years' imprisonment or Tk 2 lakh fine, or both, for the first time. For the second time, it is up to 10 years' imprisonment or Tk 10 lakh fine or both.

However, the district administration officials claimed that cutting this particular hill is not illegal as the class of the land is being changed from "hill" to "bhita" for the project.

Mohammad Mominur Rahman, deputy commissioner (DC) of Chattogram, told The Daily Star, "We have forwarded a proposal to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to change the current class of the hilly land."

"There is a guideline that the class of any land could be changed to implement the Ashrayan project," claimed the DC.

Asked why this particular piece of land was chosen, the DC replied, "We chose this land for the project to save it from encroachment."

However, the Department of Environment (DoE) officials maintain that the local administration is simply cutting the hill without obtaining permission from them.

"Permission is required to cut down any hill, regardless of land class change or whatever," said Mufidul Alam, director of the DoE (Chattogram region). The Deyang hill is being cut by Anwara upazila administration without the permission of the DoE, he said.

But there are more twists to this story.

Contacted, Jamirul Islam, project implementation officer (PIO) of Anwara Upazila, said, "We started the works after the assistant commissioner (land) office handed over the land to us. But the upazila land office is dealing with the issue, so I don't know the details of the hill cutting."

Tanvir Hasan Chowdhury, AC land of Anwara upazila, said, "Part of Deyang hill is being cut to build 130 new houses under the Ashrayan-2 project in Guchhgram area of ​​Barkhain Union."

When asked whether written permission has been obtained, the AC land said, "The district administration office verbally allowed the construction works to start on the land."

Contacted, Dr Mohammad Kamal Hossain, a professor of Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science of University at Chittagong, said, "Many people are illegally occupying government land all over the country. The Ashrayan project houses could be built on government land. This project should not have been implemented by cutting down the hills."

"Besides, those who are implementing the project think no one will tell them anything…," he added.

The number of hills in Bangladesh is much less than what is needed for ecological balance. Chattogram region has some hills but if these are not protected, the habitats of plants and animals will be destroyed, he said.