Don’t let hill destroyers get away unpunished
A troubling development has recently come to light, highlighting the culture of impunity that flourished under the Awami League regime. According to a report by Prothom Alo, two contractors—Toma Construction and Messrs Hasan International—were fined Tk 50 crore by the Department of Environment (DoE) in early 2021 (or late 2020) for illegally cutting hills in Chattogram during the construction of the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar railway project. However, the companies were exempted from paying the fine in June 2022 allegedly by the then secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, who also chaired the ministry's appeal authority at the time. This points to a serious abuse of power, with strong indications that the waiver was due to the secretary's ties with the companies involved.
As per an earlier report, the above-mentioned companies excavated 2.22 crore cubic feet of earth from hills in the Rangapahar area of Lohagara upazila, far exceeding the approved limit. While the government authorised the excavation of 37 hills—an act that is itself questionable—the companies cut an additional 16 without permission. According to a DoE official, the environmental damage caused by Toma Construction, a company of questionable repute, was estimated at around Tk 2,000 crore! Because of the sheer scale of the damage, the matter was allegedly hushed up to avoid further scrutiny.
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In November 2021—nine months or so after the levying of the initial fine of Tk 50 crore, which was exempted at a later stage—the Chattogram DoE filed a case against the two companies with the Environment Court, which delivered its verdict on February 26 last year. Messrs Hasan International reportedly admitted its offence and was fined Tk 120,000, while Toma Construction was fined only Tk 50,000. Such nominal penalties for such grave violations raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of our justice system and environmental safeguards.
Over the past decades, illegal hill-cutting has become rampant across the country despite being prohibited by law, precisely because of the complicity of relevant officials and the political connections of offenders. Chattogram city alone has lost 120 hills over the last 40 years to real estate developments, road construction, and other projects. Alarmingly, this destructive trend has continued even after the political transition in August last year. Given the aspirations of the new Bangladesh we are trying to build, the authorities must take decisive steps to halt further destruction of hills and hold all responsible parties—regardless of their connections or influence—fully accountable. Our environment cannot afford another chapter of negligence and impunity.
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