A tale of hopeless hills

As the days go by, the hillocks that stand tall in Sylhet district are being replaced by towering concrete structures. Due to rampant, illegal hillock cutting in absence of adequate enforcement of the law, Sylhet's surroundings are in grave danger. Green activists have flagged this activity as the most notable environmental threat facing the district for the last two decades.

They claimed individuals backed by local influential people are razing and cutting hillocks, while government projects are adding fuel to the fire.

According to Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela), based on 1956 land survey, there were 1,025 hillocks in the district, including 199 in the city and surrounding areas.

"Almost half the hillocks have been long lost, and their numbers are declining fast. Despite this situation, no government office knows the current number of hillocks," said Advocate Shah Shaheda Akther, divisional coordinator of the organisation.

Recently, hillocks have been razed in all upazilas of the district, but the most alarming situation is in the city's surrounding areas.

In August last year, Sylhet City Corporation's 26.50-square kilometre area was expanded to 58 sq km, incorporating many parts of Sadar and Dakshin Surma upazilas.

Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) in Sylhet, said, "As the demand for land started increasing in the newly extended city areas, hillock cutting is rampant there."

In a recent visit to Baluchar, Molaitila, Brahmanshashon, Haowldarpara and Khadimpara of Sylhet city and surrounding areas, this correspondent witnessed that hillocks were being razed in the dead of the night.

The Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 (amended in 2010) strictly prohibits cutting or razing of any type of hills or hillocks by any individual or institution. Exceptions may be made, but only after a clearance certificate is issued by the Department of Environment (DoE).

In November 2011, Bela filed a writ petition with the High Court to stop hillock cutting, and the court in 2012 banned cutting any type of hillock in Sylhet.

However, this activity continues. Besides individuals, a government office recently joined in on illegally cutting hillocks in the name of a development project.

Last month, three hillocks were razed by the Department of Livestock Services at Tilagarh area for constructing Institute of Livestock Science and Technology.

After widespread criticism, DoE fined the contractor Tk 7 lakh on October 21.

Md Jahangir Alam, project director of the institute, said, "The land is owned by the department, and the plan was to construct the establishment on plain land, excluding the hillocks."

"But only a small portion of a hillock was razed, and DoE has done its inspection. The matter is settled now," he said.

Advocate Akther of Bela said,

"Individuals who raze hillocks are backed by influential people. And when such people see that a government project itself violates the law, they get even more encouraged."

According to DoE in Sylhet, fines of around Tk 2.28 crore have been slapped for illegal hillock cutting since November 2019.

Meanwhile, 50 enforcement activities and 10 mobile courts have been conducted in this regard, while 168 cases are progressing in court.

Abdul Karim Kim said, "When a hillock is razed, the soil gets sold at a high price, while the plainland's price gets hiked by at least ten times. Considering the financial benefit, DoE's fine is just a small amount to be paid for such wrongdoings."

Contacted, Mohammad Amran Hossain, director of DoE in Sylhet, said, "With very limited human resources, we are trying our best. But completely stopping hillock razing needs an all-out effort from all government agencies."

Imrul Hasan, additional deputy magistrate of Sylhet, said, "We're concerned about the issue and are conducting joint drives against hillock cutting. The upazila administration is also conducting regular drives in the district."