Stop razing hills, save Ctg
Speakers at a seminar today urged the authorities concerned to take legal action against those who are involved in razing hills.
Hill cutting must be legally defined as a worse crime as the existing law provides light punishment for the offence, they said while speaking at a discussion titled "Disaster due to hill razing", organised by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association at a hotel in the port city.
"Influential people have already destroyed many hills for housing projects in the port city. We need the hills to protect the greater Chattogram," said Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
The minister claimed the recently passed Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act, 2023 will help curb hill razing.
"No one will be able to cut hills in the name of development," he claimed.
Abul Bashar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram, claimed they have started a survey to know the condition of the existing hills in the port city.
"We already evicted illegal structures from many hills and are protecting those with wire fencing," he added.
Bela chief executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan said hill destroyers are not punished as authorities have not done enough to take tougher action against them.
"We hope the authorities will take the right decision to save the hills," she added.
Mia Mahmudul Hoque, deputy director of the Department of Environment in Chattogram city, said a letter has been sent to the higher authorities to increase the punishment for hill cutting.
Mohammed Kamal Hossain, a former professor of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at Chittagong University, said, "Steps should be taken to prevent hill cutting besides punishing the culprits, as it is not possible to restore a hill to its original state once it is destroyed."
The police officials, meanwhile, demanded the formation of a separate unit to prevent hill cutting.
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