Hill-slope training urgent: Experts
Speakers at a seminar yesterday said hill-slope training works are needed to prevent human-induced landslides in case of taking any development projects in the country's hilly areas.
"If we can take river-training works, why don't we take hill-training works? There's no need for adaptation programme to face landslides, rather it can be mitigated or completely prevented," said Dr M Shahidul Islam, a professor at Geography and Environment Department of Dhaka University.
Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), a non-government organisation, arranged the seminar titled 'Manmade Disaster: Hills, Coasts and Rohingya Crisis and Forest' at the CBCB auditorium in the capital.
Making a presentation over hill-cutting, Shahidul Islam said four types of people -- hill owners, businessmen, labourers and civil staff -- are involved in the hill-cutting.
He stressed the need for the formation of a national-level hill management committee and enlisting the country's all hills in a database to protect hills.
Noted economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud said there is no scope in Bangladesh to keep away an environment pollutant industry from the locality as the amount of unused land against population size is very low in the country.
He said no industry and accommodation can be developed without damaging the environment in Bangladesh.
About Rohingya crisis, he said it is a manmade disaster, which will remain a landmark in history as some one lakh Rohingya people have been displaced from Rakhine state of Myanmar in just one week after August 25 last.
Prof Wahiduddin said Rakhine state has economically been badly neglected for a long, which created anger among Buddhist people living in the state. "So, a conflict was created between Rakhine people and Rohingyas as part of political strategy to mitigate the anger."
Executive Chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said a geopolitical factor is also working behind the Rohingya crisis.
Turning to the country's manmade disasters, he said there are flaws in the country's development philosophy. Lack of good governance and misrules causes manmade disasters. "We shouldn't put 'development' and 'environment' in a confrontational state," he said.
Economist Prof Anu Muhammad said hills are cut, and forest and environment are damaged in the name of development.
Noting that Bangladesh passed two development decades --1960s and 1980s- and is now passing another development decade, he said, "All development works are done at the cost of the environment and people."
If Rampal coal-based power plan and Rooppur nuclear power plants are implemented, the greater number of people than that of Rohingya refugees will be displaced within the country, he added.
Anu Muhammad said though there are huge rivers and canals across the country and the river routes have almost been abandoned.
Coordinator of Nijera Kori Khushi Kabir, Bishop Theotonius Gomes and SEHD Director Philip Gain also spoke on the occasion.
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